However, those same skills may well have come in handy as Thornton showed his skills as a thespian, performing a cameo in Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane‘s first feature film.
Ted is the story of a veritable grown-up Pinocchio, a teddy bear who comes to life decades down the road. Given some of the R-rated hijinks of the movie — which takes place in and around Boston — the role was probably perfect for Thornton, who got to use some of the same, let’s just say “colorful” language that likely is thrown around in the rink.
In his scene, Thornton tries to lead an angry mob against Mark Wahlberg‘s character before the actor formerly known as Marky Mark knocks him out using a microphone stand. Thornton probably would have preferred to win the fight, but it sounds like he had a good time, anyway.
“I didn’t know really what was going to happen, what my scene was going to be until I got there,” Thornton told WEEI in an interview. “They were like, ‘We’re pretty sure you’ll be fine with this one.’ I read it and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is pretty easy.'”
Funnily enough, Thornton actually skipped a cast and crew viewing of the film in the area, preferring to pay money to see himself on the big screen, where he’s only the second Bruin to appear. Bruins president Cam Neely actually had a fairly significant role in the Jim Carrey hit Dumb and Dumber, playing an antagonist named Sea Bass.
No word on whether or not Neely gave Thornton any acting lessons.
