When it comes to guessing about what might qualify for being called “paranormal Hollywood”, many things come to mind. For instance, the enigmatic phrase, “I warned him,” uttered by former “Joker” Jack Nicholson upon learning of Heath Ledger’s tragic and untimely death. Or maybe even the uber-eccentric weirdness commonly associated with guys like Tom Cruise and Gary Busey could qualify for being evidence that they’re actually aliens from another dimension. But when stewing over paranormal themes in Hollywood, I was a bit surprised to learn about Billy Bob Thornton’s ties to ghostly phenomenon.

Thornton, Hollywood’s reigning hillbilly king, is most often associated with his role in films like Monster’s Ball and Slingblade, or even his “ethereal ex” Angelina Jolie. Thornton is also known to be a good buddy of the legendy vampire and “King of the Country-Western Troubadors” Unknown Hinson. Of all these things that might be considered kinda spooky about the guy, I was still even more surprized to learn (partly due to his professed dislike for “old stuff”) that Thornton is living in a 1920s mansion that is purportedly haunted!  “We’ve heard lots of things in the house that just didn’t make any sense,” he recently told Maxim Magazine. “And on my last solo record, there were a couple of noises that didn’t seem to come from any place we could identify.” The house, a former residence of Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash, has no doubt hosted a variety of interesting “spirits” under it’s rock-star tenure.

As if that weren’t enough, Thornton’s mother, Virginia Faulkner Thornton, also happens to be a clairvoyant. “My mom is a renowned psychic in the South,” he says. “She’s done work for the police, missing persons and stuff like that.” Virginia, half-Italian, half-Choctaw Indian, had once predicted that Billy Bob would go on to become an actor and work with Burt Reynolds, as well as win an Oscar for the role he played with him. Still waiting for this vision to materialize, Thornton later based the character played by Cate Blanchett in the film The Gift on his mother.

In spite of his paranormal leanings, Thornton doesn’t seem to allow spirits of the past to haunt him too badly. For instance, he and former wife Angelina Jolie are still friends, and he compares her to a modern version of actress Audrey Hepburn. Thornton will also join Indiana Jones co-star Shia LaBeouf to appear in the soon-to-be-released thriller Eagle Eye, and a new project about the fertilizer business, appropriately titled Manure, will no doubt raise a stink with film critics upon its release.