Bad Santa 2: Billy Bob Thornton says there's an art to cursing

Is R-rated comedy Bad Santa 2 (out Nov. 23) as dirty as the initial film in the franchise, which found Billy Bob Thornton playing a boozy, foul-mouthed safe-cracker named Willie Soke, who is forced to work as a mall Santa so he could rob the joint?

“People ask me, ‘Is it as filthy as the first one?'” notes Thornton. “And I say, ‘Yes — maybe a shade more.'”

It is certainly as foul-mouthed, with Thornton and various other members of the sequel’s cast — which includes Kathy Bates, Christina Hendricks, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, and Ryan Hansen — swearing up the proverbial storm.

“You have to know when and how to use it — in other words, there’s an art to cursing!” laughs Thornton. “You can’t just start doing it for no reason. See, with Willie, cursing doesn’t seem like something that he thinks out. I mean, that’s just part of his language. He says ‘p—y’ the way most people say banana. So, with him, it’s just a natural thing. But I’ve seen it done in ways that is just not as good. Just like, if you were doing a dramatic scene with someone, you don’t want to get melodramatic, it’s the same thing in comedy. You have to keep within a certain set of rules, and within a certain vibe.”

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You can watch the Bad Santa 2 trailer below.