Coming off the highly acclaimed Hatfields & McCoys, portraying the character of Randall McCoy, Fort Worth native Bill Paxton will star as General Sam Houston in a new eight-hour miniseries about the Texas Revolution, the rise of the ragtag Texas Rangers and the legendary Yellow Rose of Texas. Tentatively titled Texas Rising, the production is slated to premiere on History in 2015.
The miniseries is co-produced by A+E Studios and ITV Studios America and produced by Thinkfactory Media for History. Leslie Greif, who produced Hatfields & McCoys, serves as executive producer for Thinkfactory.
Greif said he's excited to be back working with History and Paxton. "We have Academy Award and Emmy-nominated talent; a stellar ensemble cast is being set," he said.
Dirk Hoogstra, Elaine Frontain Bryant and Julian P. Hobbs are executives in charge of production.
Hoogstra said that doing the story justice will be a massive undertaking. "The Texas Revolution is one of the most gut-wrenching and inspirational events in our history," he said.
Paxton was nicknamed "Wild Bill" among friends and co-stars for his charming, but sometimes demented sense of humor and his elaborately planned pranks. He is frequently compared to actor Jack Nicholson.
"Bill has that Nicholson twinkle in his eye," said close friend and Fort Worth filmmaker Tom Huckabee. "He has incredible charisma like a lot of movie stars do that cause people to be attracted to him and want to be his friend." Paxton and Huckabee, who is the former artistic director of the Lone Star Film Festival, studied in London at the same time and later ended up making movies together. Huckabee said that Paxton "climbed the ladder one rung at a time."
Paxton is best known for his movie roles in Weird Science, True Lies, Apollo 13, Twister, Tombstone and Titanic. He was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2007.
Paxton was born and raised in Fort Worth to parents Mary Lou and John Paxton. The man he most admired was his father, who died in 2011. John Paxton was an actor, best known as the Butler in the three Spider-Man movies. He was a successful businessman and an art patron. Bill is also an avid art collector.
He and his wife, Louise Newbury (they met on the No. 13 bus in London), are parents to two children, James and Lydia. They live in California.
We caught up with Paxton in his makeup trailer on a Hollywood film set on April 11.
Q: I think our readers would like to know why you accepted the role of Sam Houston.
A: Well, I was approached by the producer, Leslie Greif. I had a great experience on Hatfields & McCoys. He told me two years ago that he was putting together a story that would include the birth of the Republic of Texas as well as the inception of the Texas Rangers. We talked about Sam Houston. Of course, being from Fort Worth, I was steeped in Texas history growing up. I remember being a boy and my dad taking me and my brother to the Alamo when I was about 8. My dad told me that I was in Sam Houston's bloodline. Houston's mother's name was Elizabeth Paxton. They were all from Rockbridge County, Va., where Sam Houston was born. It's been kind of a dream of mine to play Sam Houston because I'm actually related to him. A few years ago when they made The Alamo, I didn't get the opportunity to play him, but I sent a copy of The Raven, a biography of Sam Houston, to Dennis Quaid, never thinking that a few years later I would get offered a role to be in a miniseries that has a lot more to do with Sam Houston than was depicted in The Alamo. I think I was born to play this guy.
Q: How closely does the screenplay relate to the actual history?
A: Well, I can't really tell you too much about that. I think it follows the historical chronology of events. Of course there was nobody there with a tape recorder. The story picks up where the Alamo falls, between 1836 and 1838, and takes you to the birth of Texas. It's not a biographical film about Sam Houston. He's just a major character because he was the commander of the army. There are some dramatic flourishes, in that they've created the character of The Yellow Rose. She becomes kind of a love interest of Sam Houston and Santa Anna, which is probably not historically accurate but will add to the drama of it. Houston was just remarkable, one of the most remarkable Americans who ever lived, certainly somebody who had a wisdom of human nature with a unique perspective from being brought up in two civilizations. It's said that artists and women adored Sam Houston. I think it's because he had a bohemian spirit about him, and I'm hoping all of that comes through in my portrayal of him. There are limitations by time and budget, but I've heard from a lot of the actors. There's a great enthusiasm. We're all going to be in Durango all summer, so I believe there will be some great camaraderie. It should be an exciting and colorful miniseries. Now that I've cleared the decks on other projects, I will be going to Huntsville next week to spend some time in the Sam Houston Museum, and then I'll start to prepare for the role. We start shooting at the end of May, so I have about six weeks to prepare. I'd like to say that I don't normally talk about things I haven't done yet. I'm a little superstitious and have trepidation about bragging. I don't want to make expectations too high for me or the show. We'll talk more after it's finished. This is a big undertaking and a big role, big boots to fill. This guy was bigger than life. I've got to find a voice for him. There's a lot of challenges. I haven't played a lot of true historic characters in my career, but I feel like I'm up for it. The only thing I'm a little worried about is there's a lot of horsemanship in it. I hope they don't have any stallions. I'm like Humpty Dumpty on a horse. I'm at an age now that if a stunt man can do the shot, I don't want to deprive him of his moment.
Q: What else do you have in the works?
A: Sure! I've done six episodes of a TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which will run between now and June. Next month, I've got a supporting role in a sports baseball movie Million Dollar Arm coming out. Later in June, I have a big movie coming out where I'm opposite Tom Cruise. That's called Edge of Tomorrow. In the fall, I have a supporting role in Night Crawlers. Oh, and I just finished Term Life with Vince Vaughn that will be out next year.
