Twisters includes a tribute to Bill Paxton thanks to a cameo by his son

With the upcoming release of Twisters, it’s hard not to think of the late Bill Paxton, who starred in the original movie alongside Helen Hunt. Although the new movie isn’t expected to feature any of the original actors, it will feature a tribute to Paxton in the form of his son, James.

James Paxton, now 30, will make a cameo appearance in Twisters as a tribute to his father. He was just a year old when the original movie was shot, but his first time seeing the movie arrived a decade later when his father called him in to see it on TV. “Dad was making dinner and he called me in, like, ‘Hey, look, what’s on. It’s your old man,’” Paxton told Variety.

“I first heard about ‘Twisters’ in the trades, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, I wonder….’” Paxton explained. “Then I got an audition through my agents. I read for it and as was customary post-COVID — where most auditions are taped and you send them in, and you never really know if somebody watches them or not — sometimes it takes a while to hear anything. A lot of time went by, so I thought, ‘I guess maybe that’s not going to be something that I’m involved in,’ and then they reached out and had an offer.“

Paxton contained, “It was something that I had to take a second to really think about — just for the sheer emotional context and weight of it, because of Dad’s significance in the original and how to do a cameo that is fun for the fans, an Easter egg, and is representative of his spirit. To give a nice blessing to this new chapter because so many wonderful and talented people are making it.” In another world, you can imagine Bill Paxton having a blast returning to the world of storm-chasing for Twisters.

Glen Powell plays storm-chasing superstar Tyler Owens in Twisters and stars alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones, who plays Kate Cooper, “a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.” The film also stars Brandon Perea (Nope), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical), Katy O’Brien (Love Lies Bleeding), and Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).

The first reactions have been quite positive, with most calling it a hell of a fun time. We won’t have long to find out for ourselves, as Twisters will be hitting theaters on July 19th.