- Paxton has a cunning plan to bring Sean Connery and Michael Caine together for a romantic comedy called DOUG AND DAVE telling of two painters from Wiltshire who started the crop circle hoax in the Seventies. (June 25, 2003)
- Bill had rheumatic fever in the 7th grade. It kept him hospitalized for a month and bed-ridden for four months. He had to take regular doses of penicillin until he was 18.
- As a teen, Bill caddied for golf great Ben Hogan in Fort Worth.
- He directed the theatrical short FISH HEADS (1982) which won a Special Award at the 1982 Melbourne Film Festival.
- He co-authored and produced the short SCOOP (1983) which won an Honorable Mention at the 1983 USA. Film Festival.
- He was a member of the 80s rock band Martini Ranch. James Cameron directed a video for their song Reach featuring many Cameron alumni (Kathryn Bigelow, Lance Henriksen, Jeanette Goldstein).
- He does not particularly like being recognized as Chet from WEIRD SCIENCE (1985).
- He came very close to landing the lead role in DARKMAN (1990).
- In his struggling actor days he was a parking attendant at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
- He turned down Sam Raimi's THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1995).
- He nearly landed the lead in THE ROCKETEER (1991).
- The original title of the script of FRAILTY (2001) before he got involved was GOD'S HANDS.
- Was originally cast as Stifler's dad in AMERICAN PIE 2 (2001), but had to leave the project due to his schedule.
- He used the same beer can throughout the entire filming of FRAILTY (2001).
- A scene with he and Billy Bob Thornton in A SIMPLE PLAN (1998) was lost by Northwest Airlines in January 1998 while in transit from Minnesota to Los Angeles. The missing scene had been shot in Minnesota. The film was insured, and the missing scene was reshot.
- Before playing in PREDATOR 2 (1990), he previously starred in ALIENS (1986). The skull of one of the aliens appears in the Predator's trophy room.
- In order to get the background skies looking suitably stormy, the truck cab sequences had to be flooded with high intensity lighting for contrast. As a result, he suffered minor retinal burns through much of the filming of TWISTER (1996).
- On the final night of shooting in Nova Scotia, one or more pranksters mixed PCP (angel dust) into the clam chowder served to the cast and crew. 80 people were taken ill, many hospitalized with hallucinations. 'Paxton, Bill' felt listless for two weeks after the incident (TITANIC-1997).
- The scene where he and Helen Hunt drive through a toppled house was shot at Owen Field at the University of Oklahoma campus (TWISTER).
- The song that plays during the first scene in A SIMPLE PLAN involving Hank and Sarah is Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum. It's the same song that his character in APOLLO 13 (1995), Fred Haise, plays on a floating tape recorder during a live newscast.
- TOMBSTONE (1993) is the last film to date starring both Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton together. They have appeared in 5 films together, THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE, THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS and NAVY SEALS.
- Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV at Golden Globe Awards for A BRIGHT SHINING LIE (1999)
- Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast at Screen Actors Guild Awards for TITANIC (1998)
Quotes- "It's very liberating to be naked in front of a hundred people, but there's nothing sexual about lovemaking on a movie set..."
- "... but it was movies I had always wanted to be in. I'm into the whole thing, not just performing. I love watching what goes on behind the camera. My heroes are Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd -- complete filmmakers."
Awards- Deep Ellum Film Festival: Texas Filmmaker Award (2001)
- Saturn Award: Best Supporting Actor, ALIENS (1987)
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