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Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton’s whirlwind romance had Hollywood talking, but nothing raised eyebrows more than the infamous vials of blood they wore around their necks. At the time, it was seen as a wild declaration of love. Looking back, Thornton insisted it wasn’t as dramatic as people made it out to be.
Thornton, who married Jolie in 2000, later explained the story to Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film & Television students. He described it as a simple, intimate gesture. “[A] vial of blood is very simple. Angie came home one day with a kit she bought,” he said (via E-Online). “You know those lockets you buy that are clear and you put a picture of your grannie in it or something like that and wear it around your neck? That’s what it was.”
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“She bought two of those. We were apart a lot because she’s off making Tomb Raider and I’m making Monster’s Ball. We were on opposite ends—we see each other for two weeks and whatever,” the actor continued. He added, “She thought it would be interesting and romantic if we took a little razorblade and sliced our fingers, smeared a little blood on these lockets and you wear it around your neck just like you wear your son or daughter’s baby hair in one. Same thing.”
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“From that we were wearing quart jars of blood around our neck. And we were vampires, and we lived in a dungeon,” Thornton said. With their busy schedules keeping them apart – Angelina Jolie filming Tomb Raider, Billy Bob Thornton working on Monster’s Ball – she wanted a meaningful keepsake.
Jolie, in a 2008 Entertainment Weekly interview, shared her own perspective. “It was never a vial…It was like a flower press,” she clarified. “It was like from a slight cut on your finger and you press your fingerprint in. It was kind of a sweet gesture. I thought it was kind of romantic!”
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While the public saw it as extreme, she believed it was a unique way to stay connected despite their time apart. Their relationship, marked by grand displays of passion, burned fast and bright. Married in Las Vegas just months after meeting, the couple frequently gushed about each other in interviews. Jolie once famously tattooed Thornton’s name on her body, later covering it up after their split.
Their love, as intense as it was, didn’t last. By 2003, they had divorced, shocking fans who had witnessed their bold affection. Despite their separation, neither harbored bitterness. Even decades later, the blood vial story remains one of Hollywood’s most talked-about love tokens. What was once seen as over-the-top now feels like an eccentric chapter in two stars’ lives. Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton may have moved on, but their love, sealed in blood, became an unforgettable piece of pop culture history.
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