Dern Talks Billy Bob Breakup

Sept. 15, 2000 -- Since the whirlwind marriage of Hollywood hillbilly Billy Bob Thornton to wild child Angelina Jolie, we've been waiting to hear from the woman Thornton scorned, his fiancée of many years, Laura Dern. Now the Oscar-nominated actress, who just barely escaped being Billy Bob's fifth wife, is talking about her cruel split from the Sling Blade dude.

How cruel was it? In the new Talk magazine, Dern says, “I left our home to work on a movie, and while I was away, my boyfriend got married, and I’ve never heard from him again.”Ouch.

Adds the spurned Dern, “It’s like a sudden death. For no one has there been any closure or clarity.”Um, Laura, we don’t think Billy Bob’s looking for any closure, except to maybe get back some items from the old homestead, like those string-ties he’s so fond of.

If it’s any consolation to the Wild at Heart actress, public sentiment doesn’t hold out much hope for the longevity of the Thornton-Jolie union.

Dern and Thornton still have Daddy and Them, which they collaborated on in happier days, in movie limbo.