MovieChat Forums > True Lies (1994) Discussion > This is the first time I noticed Bill Pa...

This is the first time I noticed Bill Paxton

posted 11 years ago by Hanz-Willhelm
11 replies | jump to latest

After this film if I saw him again I would recognize his face and think that's the guy from True Lies.

The next few years after this I would catch reruns old movies...maybe a scene here and a scene there and I was AMAZED at how often he turned up. I kept thinking "he was in that?!!!!!", "he was in that too!!!?" It's amazing how many movies I liked that he was in but I never remembered his face in future movies.....not until True Lies.

Here are the movies I had seen years earlier but hadn't really remembered his face and/or voice.

Weird Science (mean older brother)
The Terminator (street punk)
Next of Kin (brother killed at beginning)
Commando (navy guy over radio)
Aliens (Game over man, now what are we gonna do)
Preditor II (Jerry)

He was practically in every fun 80's movie I had seen.

[–] ultimatenexus 11 years ago

Wow, I didn't even notice. O_o He's in Terminator and Aliens?! I'll have to look for him next time I watch those.

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[–] phoenixphlask 11 years ago

The only man to be killed by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator. I mean who else can say that? As far as performances goes nothing tops Simon from True Lies. Hysterical. I've seen it dozens of times and it's still funny. All hail Bill.

[–] pkryder-1 10 years ago

But he survived the tornado.

[–] Stef_antique 9 years ago

... And Rose Dawson's neverending story. Lol

[–] Vibradiant 9 years ago

Pretty sure he was just banged up and knocked out by the Terminator, but it's still a laudable claim to fame.

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[–] manofsteel4455 11 years ago

Oh my God!! That's exactly what happens to me with actors lol. I think it's because we don't really notice faces when we're real young.

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[–] Vibradiant 11 years ago

It's interesting to notice when a particular role first causes an actor to stand out.

His character in Weird Science (and what he turned into) was so outlandishly nutty (and similar in tone to Simon in TL) that I've noted him in every movie since, and his role in Aliens certainly sealed the deal... though it did take a while for his brief bit in Terminator to come to mind.

His directing and acting in Frailty really made me look twice at him, and next I'm most interested to see what he did in Big Love.

"I like to watch" Chauncey Gardiner, 'Being There'

[–] Hanz-Willhelm 9 years ago

Yes, I'm also sure it was because the roles were small, he wasn't a lead and many of the times he was just a side character or had a very small role.

I saw Star Wars as a kid and knew exactly who Harrison Ford was when I saw him in other things...Indiana Jones for example.

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[–] CGSailor 11 years ago

The effect you're describing happens to most people at some point or another. Usually about their mid teens when they start separating an actor from the roles they play.
As a Kid, you generally don't give a second thought to an actor playing a role, just the character itself.
As you get into your mid teens and later, you start divorcing the character from the actor playing the character. (Even if you intellectually know the difference soon, it doesn't really sink in until you start thinking more as an adult.

So in announcing this concerning Paxton... you pretty much dated yourself. LOL

About the only Role of Paxton's I didn't know him from and had to look it up was his role as the punk in Terminator. And that was just a bit part as an extra really, not even a full role.

If you look at the credits in Chuck Norris' Missing In Action, you will find under Stuntmen... a certain "J. Claude Van Damme"

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[–] manofsteel4455 10 years ago

Is there a name for this effect?

[–] Kojiro_Vance 8 years ago

I had a similar thing when I was younger.

I'm a massive Bond fan (well, not all Bond movies, just the good ones :) ) and I'm also a big Indiana Jones fan.

As a kid, i never realised James Bond and Henry Jones were the same actor. Weird how the mind works.

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