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interview by lacy morris ~ photograph by greg dupree7 6 | s o u t h e r n l i v i n g | J u n e 2 0 1 4

Bill Paxton

I remember a great trip I took

with my older brother, Bob, and

my dad to The Alamo when I was

growing up in Texas. we stayed

at the menger hotel across the

street and went to some cool

movie palace where the whole

ceiling was [covered in] fake stars.

i remember seeing the movie

Hatari! with john wayne. we got

to stay up late, and my dad made

HOMETOWN: fort worth, teXas | OCCUPATION: actor | WHAT’S ON HIS PLATE: the jUne 6 release of the sci-fi thriller

EDGE OF TOMORROW | FAVORITE SIDE DISH: “i liKe fried green tomatoes and fried oKra—anything fried is always good.”

these things called russian dogs—

you take pineapple juice, vanilla

ice cream, and ice, and you put it

in a blender to make a smoothie.

I have a lot of Southern

influences. i like everything from

southern rock bands, like the

allman brothers and ZZ top, to

southern writers like tennessee

williams and thomas wolfe.

When I was a teenager,

I worked in the Caroli-

nas on the scullery

crew at a camp called

Camp Mondamin. it

was near east flat rock,

and every summer the

town did a production

of Look Homeward, Angel

by thomas wolfe at the

flat rock playhouse.

that’s when i first started

thinking about acting

and filmmaking. i love

that kind of storytelling.

I’m very proud of my

Southern ancestry. my

great-great-grandfather

was general elisha

franklin paxton, from

rockbridge county,

Virginia. he led stonewall

jackson’s brigade and

died at the battle of

chancellorsville.

As a kid, I loved

hunting golf balls.

my parents built their

dream home along

shady oaks country

club in fort worth when

i was about 8. i’d set up

these lemonade stands

with all the golf balls i

found and sell them back to the

golfers. that was my hobby and a

way to make extra money.

Of all my characters, my son

James says I’m most like Bill

Henrickson from Big Love. i think

that’s pretty accurate. because

even though he was kind of a crazy,

polygamous character, he was a

regular guy: he fixed the car; he

wasn’t being waited on hand and

foot. he had to manage a lot of

things. he had to crack down on

the kids sometimes.

Filming Edge of Tomorrow was

very physically demanding. it’s

about an alien invasion in the

future, and we used all the

latest military technology—like a

75-pound exosuit that was grueling

to wear. tom cruise was gung ho,

but i’m like, “can i sit in a chair

with a drink in my hand and do

the dialogue?”

I like to sketch little homemade

postcards. if i’m visiting a place, i’ll

do a drawing of it—just pen and

ink with a little bit of wash, kind of

monochromatic—and send them

in the mail to friends.

The music, the people, the

hospitality—I had the best

month in Atlanta shooting

Term Life (out in 2015). and eating

so many great southern dishes. i

love south city Kitchen. they have

a kind of crab cake hash on finger-

ling potatoes, with a fried egg and

hollandaise sauce, that is to die for.

One Southern tradition I like is

dinner at five o’clock. my children

are teenagers now. just getting

them all to sit at the same table

for a meal is significant.

[Several years ago], I got to take

my dad to the Kentucky Derby.

that was the last trip we were able

to take together before he passed

on. we had a great day smoking

cigars and drinking mint juleps.

we watched some races and all

the ladies in their finest millinery.

t r a v e l + c u l t u r e p a p e r n a p k i n i n t e r v i e w

bill at parish foods & goods

atlanta

“As A kid, i’d set up

lemonAde stAnds

And sell golf

bAlls i found bAck

to the golfers.”