It’s hard to imagine a Twister movie existing in a world without Bill Paxton, but there is still a ton of his DNA in the upcoming sequel, in addition to the flying cows.
Paxton’s son James is continuing his father’s legacy by appearing in Twisters for a small cameo. “It’s really a cameo, so it’s an Easter egg for the fans of Dad and the original,” Paxton told Entertainment Weekly.
Bill Paxton appeared in the original 1996 Twister as a storm hunter eager to follow a dangerous tornado before the rival chasers reach it. In Twisters, Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones star as the chasers.
James’ role is just a cameo, but he wanted to be a part of the production to honor his dad, who died in 2017. “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 said. “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. And so it ended up feeling like the right thing to do, to be representative of Dad there.”
Even though James never intended to go into acting, he says that he was inspired by his dad bringing him to sets when he was a kid, including Twister when he was just one year old.
He added, “I feel closest to him when I’m working on sets. I just think back on all of the amazing work that he got to do, and that’s where I really feel him…I kind of had a moment on the Twisters set where I walked off, and I went, ‘God, can you believe this?’ And I was talking to myself, but also to him, in just a little private moment that I had.”
Twisters hits theaters on July 19.
