During a discussion with college students at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film & Television in 2014, Thornton answered a question about the supposed vials of blood, clarifying the endless rumor that has followed both of them around for two decades, even as they moved on from their marriage in 2003 and pursed other relationships.
Thornton likened the vials to lockets, similar to the ones people wear containing photos of loved ones. He said they were apart for work so much that it was a gesture on her part to feel a little closer to him. “She thought it would be interesting and romantic if we took a little razor blade and sliced our fingers, smeared a little blood on these lockets and you wear it around your neck just like you wear your son or daughter’s baby hair in one. Same thing,” Thornton said. Once the rumor started, he joked they were suddenly “wearing quarts of blood around our necks and we were vampires and lived in a dungeon” (via Vanity Fair).
