Oddball actor BILLY BOB THORNTON can't keep his real-life phobias from spilling over into his movies. The U Turn (1997) star's weird fears about antiques and historical figure Benjamin Disraeli's hair were worked into his bank-robbing character in BANDITS (2001) - and now his phobia about silverware features in new flick Monster's Ball (2001).

He explains, "I so have this fear of silverware. I'm afraid of it. I'm not afraid of cheap silverware, it's real silver that I'm creeped out by, or maybe silverware that I think people might have used for digging and things. And my character is this guy who eats chocolate ice-cream all the time.

The prop guy came up to me and he sets down the ice-cream and I said, 'Let's say my character only eats with plastic spoons. ' It became this thing in the movie where I always ask for a plastic spoon when I'm in the diner, but it's really because I didn't want whatever the hell kind of spoon it was they wanted to give me. " (KL/WNV/CPT)

Source: WENN