Bill Paxton - Details

BILL PAXTON has accomplished what few others in his craft have managed; he’s struck gold with box-office giants like Titanic, Twister and Apollo 13 and won critical acclaim with independents like One False Move, Traveller and A Simple Plan.

With box- office numbers at over $3 billion worldwide, he is one of the top 10-grossing actors of all time along with Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.

Most recently, Paxton was seen as the Captain in the WWII submarine hit U-571. He was also a part of the phenomenally successful Titanic. The film marked his fourth collaboration with James Cameron, who previously directed Paxton in True Lies, Aliens and The Terminator. He starred in the Steven Spielberg-produced smash hit, Twister, directed by Jan De Bont, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in HBO’s A Bright Shining Lie. In addition, Roger Ebert voted Paxton Best Actor of the Year for his work in A Simple Plan.

Paxton emerged as a leading man, earning wide critical praise, with his performance as a small-town sheriff in One False Move. He also starred with Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon in Ron Howard’s blockbuster Apollo 13, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. In 1996, Paxton produced his first feature, Traveller, co-starring Mark Wahlberg and Julianna Margulies, in which he played a modern day gypsy. The film received outstanding reviews.

Moving to Hollywood from his hometown in Texas, Paxton got his start working as a set dresser on Roger Corman’s Big Bad Mama. After working in the art department on several features, he decided to move to New York to study acting. Returning to Los Angeles in 1980, he met James Cameron while moonlighting as one of Cameron’s set dressers on the low-budget sci-fi film Galaxy of Terror. He then began accumulating acting credits, first in B-horror movies like Mortuary, then in studio films like The Lords of Discipline, Streets of Fire and the classic John Hughes comedy, Weird Science. Other film credits include Near Dark, Pass the Ammo, Trespass, Tombstone and Indian Summer.

Fall 20001, Paxton is directing and starring with Matthew McConaughey in the gothic thriller, Frailty, for Lions Gate.