James Paxton will star in the upcoming Western, Last Train to Fortune, which the late Bill Paxton was originally meant to appear in during the 1990s.
Bill, who died from a stroke aged 61 in 2017, has featured in countless classics over his decorated career including Twister, Titanic, Aliens and Apollo 13. But there was one project that he was meant to appear in that never quite got off the ground – Last Train to Fortune.
English actor Malcolm McDowell, 81, has now revealed that the project (decades in the making) will premiere this autumn with one crucial difference. James, 30, will play outlaw Jedidiah Dooley in place of his father.
‘I said, “I’ve always loved that script. It’s such a beautiful script, really. Why don’t we get James Paxton to do it?” He’d be the same age as his dad was, almost. A little bit younger, but even better,’ the Time After Time star recalled.
Malcolm initially intended to make the film with director Lindsay Anderson in the early 1990s opposite the late actor. Lindsay died in 1994 before production could begin.
He continued to People: ‘We did a read-through at my house and I think everybody went “Wow.” It’s pretty good when you hear it aloud for the first time.’
He also described James as ‘level-headed’.
‘Of course, [there is] the weight of his dad, but that’s every day in life he’s had that, and he’s a very fine young actor,’ he added.
James followed in the footsteps of his father from a young age. His early projects included Spy Kids 3 and The Greatest Game Ever Played and he later starred in Marvel project Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as John Garrett.
Most recently, he played a minor role in Twisters opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, the long-awaited sequel to 1996 classic Twister in which his father played Bill Harding.
In an interview with Variety, he spoke about what it meant to honour his dad’s legacy on screen and how it has helped him
‘It’s been really hard, like a long time coming to be able to talk about the loss of my dad, for my myself and my family,’ he said.
‘I’ve wanted to do things that help keep his memory alive and keep me feeling as connected to him as possible. I always will.
‘But I’ve had to put a lot of it into the art to deal with it, to get through, because there were times I didn’t know how to keep going in this career and be my own person. Just missing my mentor, my hero, who’s not here to see it.’
Last Train to Fortune was written by director Adam Rifkin’s mother Michele Rifkin 37 years ago. After Bill’s unexpected death in 2017, a second attempt was also scrapped but now it is full steam ahead with James on board.
‘I say with utter confidence this is one of the most powerful performances Malcolm McDowell has given in his storied career. And James Paxton is a revelation,’ Adam told Deadline.
The Western follows Cecil Peachtree (Malcolm), a stuffed-shirt schoolmaster who hitches a ride with an outlaw named Dooley (James) after he misses the last train to Fortune.
As they travel the pair encounter ‘gunfights, jailbreaks and saloon gals’ and form an unlikely bond. The film also stars Bernadette Peters, Laura Marano and Malcolm’s wife Mary Steenburgen.
Before his death, Bill spoke about what it was like working with his son on CBS show Training Day.
‘I was thrilled to have my son guest-star on the eighth episode,’ he told People at the time.
‘He plays the son in a father-son robbery team, and my character, whose dad was also a criminal, tells him, “We’re both our father’s sons, but that doesn’t have to define us.” It was surreal saying that to him.’
There is currently no confirmed release date for Last Train to Fortune.