Billy Bob Thornton is many things: writer, director, actor, Angelina Jolie's ex, Bad Santa. For his latest project, "Jayne Mansfield's Car," Thornton had his fourth outing as a feature director, along with writing the script and playing one of the main characters in the drama.

In limited theaters today and available on VOD, "Jayne Mansfield's Car" is an adult drama following the travails of two families -- the family a woman left behind in Alabama (including Thornton's character) when her first marriage ended, and her new clan in the U.K. by way of her second marriage. The two disparate groups are brought together when the woman dies, and her scattered family members have to fulfill her wish to be laid to rest in Alabama. What follows is a series of strange events and awkward interactions between the families, including heavy drinking, a naked recitation of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and a viewing of the titular vehicle.

Thornton called me prior to the film's release to discuss what the movie means to him, the big-name actress whose role had to be cut completely from the movie, and why he's the wrong guy to direct a "Star Trek" movie.

What inspired you to write this movie? It's certainly not your typical plotline.

Well, I always liked the idea of culture clashes and saw, I wanted to make a movie where that was the backdrop, a culture clash. I'd also seen Jayne Mansfield's car just like it is in the movie in real life as a kid, they brought it around to the town, you know, and I always wanted to put that in a movie but I didn't want to just throw it in without a meaning. As a result, it's called "Jayne Mansfield's Car" and it's a metaphor for the romanticism of tragedy. I wanted to make a movie about how war is viewed by a generation and how they pass that on to the next generation and how the psychological damage of war manifests itself in families.

That's the basis for the movie, and I haven't directed in a while because you've gotta do something that you have your heart in, that you're interested in, that you know well, because it's a hard job. It takes a big chunk of your life out. Not like when you're an actor, you go away, you make a movie for a couple months and you're done with it. You're really with a movie as a director for quite some time, so not being a full-time director, I just want to direct things that I generate myself, I wouldn't be a good director for hire. You know, I'm not the guy to call to do the new Star Trek movie or anything like that.

Oh, squashing that rumor now before it can even start?

Yeah. [laughing] I don't think they'd ever call me for that anyway, believe me.

What does it take for you to decide on a movie to write? Do you start and abandon a lot of ideas? Directing and writing is a big commitment, so how sure are you before you decide to go all-in and write a full script?

Yeah, it's usually a pretty solid idea coming in. I generally don't sit around and come up with ideas. I'm primarily an actor, so I wait for the next script that I like that I want to do usually. As a writer and director, if I have an idea that's in me, and I've got three or four that I haven't done yet, and they're all fairly formed. Some of them are at an earlier stage than others, and one of these days when I get the energy again, I'll do it again.

Is writing and directing a break for you from acting, or is it harder?

It depends on the type of movie, really. There are some movies as an actor that are more taxing than others that are just fun. But directing and writing is always work. You're kinda starting with nothing but an idea and you have to realize that idea in a screenplay and then re-realize it in a movie, so it is a little more work than acting, I'd say, at the end of the day.

You really have to think it through long and hard before getting into it. It's not something to be taken lightly.

There's a lot going on in this movie, and it's hard to kind of sum up. How would you describe it?

Well, yeah. This is just a movie that, you know, it's an adult drama with humor about peoples' struggle with communicating with each other and the results of that miscommunication or non-communication, that's the easiest way I can put it. But also the stuff I've said about generations and how war tragedy affects different people, and the responsibility of that. But usually the movies that I always like the most are the movies you can't really describe in a synopsis. I find that if you can tell me what a movie's about in one sentence, then I already saw it. The butler did it.

Right, and it's about a funeral, but not about a funeral at the same time.

Yeah, the funeral was really a way to get the people together. That's sort of the environment, the backdrop that we use to get the people together. There were actually two scenes involving the mother in the beginning, but we cut those scenes.

Who played the mother?

Tippi Hedren, who is of course legendary. I hated to cut them, but the place where it felt we could cut the most and not hurt the movie was at the beginning. Those two scenes were at the beginning and they were able to be cut without affecting the movie, even though the scenes as standalones were terrific and she was terrific in them.

Was that cut for length, or for plot?

Well, yeah, I had to cut it for length, but you also have to cut it for length where it still works and where you still get the desired result. We might have to cut things that we may love, but they're not necessary to the story as much. So we decided, well, you know what, it's not necessary that we see all the British people until they get to Alabama. Let's just discover, when Alabama discovers the, the audience will too.

How do you write characters for yourself? Is it a given from the beginning that you'll be in it?

Well, like I said I'm predominantly an actor, and that kind of role, if you took all the actors that are in this movie and lined them up, and nobody was assigned a role yet, I think most people would probably say oh, I should play that guy there. It has a certain vibe to it that's not dissimilar to some other roles I've played. It's different in a lot of ways, but it has a certain thread of the types of characters I like to play: someone who's physically or psychologically damaged or both, as in this case. I enjoy those. When I first started writing the script, the only two characters that were in my head were Duvall, the father, and me, so I was really writing a movie for me and Duvall and then developed all the other characters around that. So it wasn't like I wrote it and then said which of these characters am I going to play, it was just going to be me and Duvall.

Do you write for yourself to fill a lack? Are they roles that you want to play, but haven't?

No, it's just I'm the first one to tell someone if I'm the right guy for the job, and I'll be the first guy to tell you if I'm the wrong guy for the job. I've done almost 60 movies and I've only written characters for myself like three times. If somebody else would have written this movie, I probably would have gotten a call as someone they were thinking of.

What do you see as your strengths as a director?

I think my main strength as a director is just setting a mood and working with actors. I wouldn't be a very good, like I said, director for like a science fiction movie. I'm not very interested in that kind of stuff. It's not that I don't like to watch them, but I'm not interested in drawing it up on paper. [laughing] I'm the wrong guy.

How early did the title come to you?

Yeah, that was the title in the beginning because it's a metaphor for the romanticism of tragedy. It grabs the eye a lot more than "Troubles in the Family" or something like that.

It's a really interesting space to explore, those people you aren't really related to, but are extended family anyway.

Yeah, just related by marriage. That's always kind of a fuzzy line.

What kind of reactions have people had to the movie?

Well, as with most of the movies that I have a hand in making, people either get it completely or they don't. I don't really make movies tailor made for today's audience. I don't expect this movie to be a blockbuster, I expect the people who get my stuff to like it. That's about all I expect from it. I'm not the guy probably to make the movies that make $500 million and all that.