The late Bill Paxton was a new dad when he set out for Oklahoma to chase tornadoes for the natural disaster thriller “ Twister ” in 1995. His son, James, was just over a year old and Bill’s wife Louise brought the baby out for a visit. “I was a little too young to be forming lasting, cognitive memories, but there’s some cool photos,” James Paxton , now 30, tells Variety , smiling as he describes a shot of the toddler version of himself posing with his dad in Bill’s (his father’s character in the movie shared the same name) iconic red Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck.
“Unfortunately, I don’t remember that, but I’m glad that we have the photo to say, ‘Hey, I was there.’” On February 25, 2017, Bill Paxton died from complications of a heart surgery. James Paxton had already followed in his father’s footsteps to become an actor, and now, he makes a cameo in “ Twisters .
” The long-awaited sequel, which was directed by Lee Isaac Chung and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos, opens in theaters on July 17. “It’s surreal to be talking about this for so many different reasons,” Paxton says ahead of the film’s L.A.
premiere on Thursday night, where he’ll walk the red carpet with his sister, Lydia. “But it’s very, very exciting for this new chapter to get out into the world. And for it to not only be fun for people who saw the original when they were younger — and maybe they have kids that they get to show this new chapter to.