Actor James Paxton was still a toddler when his father, Bill Paxton, starred as storm chaser-turned-TV weatherman Bill Harding in the 1996 blockbuster, “Twister.”
Now 30, James Paxton is set to make a cameo in the hotly anticipated sequel, “Twisters,” which hits theaters next week.
His brief appearance in the film as a motel guest named Cody is intended as a tribute to the elder Paxton, who died in 2017 at age 61.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Thursday, James Paxton opened up about the significance of taking on a project so closely associated with his father’s legacy.
“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,” he told the outlet. “I wanted to do something that really honors his presence in this new chapter and really do something for him.”
Jason LaVeris via Getty Images
“And I realized there’s a lot of amazing people involved in this that I would love to get to know,” he continued. “And so it ended up feeling like the right thing to do, to be representative of Dad there.”
The original “Twister,” which also starred Helen Hunt, opened to mixed reviews but wound up becoming a hit, raking in a reported $495 million at the box office worldwide.
Early reviews of “Twisters,” starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, have been mostly positive, with IndieWire calling it “one of the most satisfying movies of the summer” thus far.
James Paxton said his red carpet look for the Thursday’s premiere of “Twisters” in Los Angeles was an unexpected homage to his mother, Louise Paxton.
Kevin Winter via Getty Images
“I was really excited because I told my mom, ‘I’m going to wear Dolce at the ‘Twisters’ premiere!’” he explained to EW. “And she goes, ‘I wore Dolce and Gabbana at the original premiere!’ And then she pulls out her original outfit that she still has from the ’90s, and there’s photos of her in this great white outfit with Dad. It’s so crazy and kind of meant to be.”
As it turns out, “Twisters” isn’t the first time James Paxton has honored the memory of his father. The younger Paxton, whose credits include the USA series “Eyewitness” and CBS’ “Training Day,” portrayed a younger version of his dad’s character, John Garrett, on ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in 2020.
