Billy Bob Thornton

N E W   Y O R K, Jan. 7 -- Actor Billy Bob Thornton may have an Oscar and a number of other prestigious honors, but you won't catch him using silver utensils at any of the fancy awards dinners.

Thornton said he and his character in his new film, Monster's Ball have a strange habit in common — they both prefer plastic spoons. Thornton told ABCNEWS' Charlie Gibson that he has a few phobias, one of which prevents him from eating with silver. Read the entire unedited transcript from Thornton's interview on Good Morning America below.

ABCNEWS' CHARLIE GIBSON:Our next guest arrived in Hollywood 20 years ago, and it took 15 of those years before he made it. But, boy, did he make it. Billy BobThornton has been making up for lost time ever since. An Oscar, as you know, for writing Sling Blade, an Oscar-winning wife, AngelinaJolie, and now, there is Oscar talk again for him. Tonight, on the heels of two best actor Golden Globe nominations, he's in New York toreceive best actor honors from the prestigious National Board of Review for no less than three movies that have come out in the lastthree months alone. And Thornton is joining us now. It's a pleasure to have you here. Nice to see you again.

BILLY BOB THORNTON: Thanks. You, too.

GIBSON: This movie that we want to talk about today, "Monster's Ball," isreally interesting. Halle Berry in it with you. And it's really thestory about a man who goes through an extraordinary transition,metamorphosis …

THORNTON:Right.

GIBSON: … on the subject of race.

THORNTON:

Mm — hmm. And what was the — really, the hardest part of playing itwas, the fact that the transformation for the audience only seemslike from here to here.

GIBSON: Mm — hmm.

THORNTON:But for a guy like him, it's from a here to here. You know, it'sa——it's a very——you know, it seems like a very subtle transformation,you know, to the audience, and yet, for a person like that to changeat all is huge. Yeah, so …