James Paxton, the son of late actor Bill Paxton, is opening up about honoring his father by appearing in the 2024 movie "Twisters," out July 17.
The younger Paxton, 30, appears as an angry hotel guest in the new movie, which is a sequel to his father's 1996 blockbuster hit “Twister."
“It’s really a cameo, so it’s an Easter egg for the fans of Dad and the original,” he told Entertainment Weekly, adding, "I did this one for Dad."
Bill Paxton starred alongside Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Twister." Paxton played an ex-storm chaser turned TV weatherman who's called back into action when a series of deadly tornadoes approaches.
Bill Paxton died in February 2017 due to complications from a surgery. He was 61.
James Paxton told EW that despite the fact that he and his sister didn't make a point to watch their dad's movies when they were kids, they could hardly escape "Twister."
"It wasn’t until a bit later that I took an active interest in wanting to see everything he had done. To be honest, he wasn’t really pushing it on my sister or me. I think he knew we would find it when we found it.
"And 'Twister' is one of those classics where it plays almost every day somewhere on television. I mean, I’ve been in hotel rooms just on the road, and I’ve turned on the TV, and boom, it’s already playing. It’s timeless that way," he said.
James Paxton decided he wanted to be involved in "Twisters" so that he could act as a kind of "representative" for his dad.
"I wanted to be a conduit for his spirit there and cheer everyone in this production on to success because I know he would be," said James Paxton.
"I wanted to do something that really honors his presence in this new chapter and really do something for him. And I realized there’s a lot of amazing people involved in this that I would love to get to know."
It's not the first time the younger Paxton has paid tribute to his father onscreen.
In 2020, he guest-starred on Marvel’s "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." on ABC as a younger version of John Garrett, the villainous character his dad played in Season One.
He will also play as an outlaw named Jedidiah Dooley alongside Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen in the upcoming Western "Last Train to Fortune," which is scheduled for a fall release.
The role was originally meant to be played by his father.
McDowell told People that he's been trying to get “Last Train to Fortune" onto the silver screen since the early 1990s with Bill Paxton playing Jedidiah. Unfortunately, director Lindsay Anderson died in 1994 before production began.
When the movie recently got the green light again, McDowell decided to reach out to Paxton's son.
“I said, ‘I’ve always loved that script. It’s such a beautiful script, really,’” McDowell said. “‘Why don’t we get James Paxton to do it?’ He’d be the same age as his dad was, almost. A little bit younger, but even better.’”
McDowell said the younger Paxton knocked his socks off right away.
“So we did a read-through at my house and I think everybody went ‘Wow.’ It’s pretty good when you hear it aloud for the first time,” said McDowell.
“I must say that he’s pretty levelheaded,” he added of his late friend's son. “Of course, (there is) the weight of his dad, but that’s every day in life he’s had that, and he’s a very fine young actor.”
