The essence of human Frailty

Actor Bill Paxton takes a different turn and goes gothic with directional debut

Bill Paxton loves to talk... so much so that he answers three of my questions before I even ask them.
Bill who? you ask. "Story of my life," he laughs about people recognizing his face but rarely his name. And yet this gregarious, constantly smiling and frat-boyishly charming Texan has starred in some of the biggest grossing movies of all time: Titanic, Terminator, U571, Apollo 13, Twister, True Lies and Aliens. Not to mention two of the most memorable art-house movies ever: One False Move and A Simple Plan.
But today, sitting in a Toronto hotel room, the 47-year-old actor is not here to talk about a role, but about his feature-directorial debut, the gothic thriller Frailty.
Set in the heart of Texas, the film centres on Fenton Meeks (played by Paxton's U571 co-star Matthew McConaughey), a mysterious man who explains to a Dallas FBI agent (Powers Boothe) why he believes his younger brother (Matthew Kreis) may be responsible for a recent series of unsolved murders: It seems that the killer goes by the name "God's Hands," the very same moniker used by Meeks' religiously fanatical father (played by Paxton in flashbacks). As the film explains, Dad believed he had been ordered by God to kill demons walking the earth in human form and has conscripted his young boys (Matt O'Leary, Jeremy Sumpter) into a murdering spree.
"There are elements in the story that are contemporizations of Old Testament stories, particularly the story of Abraham which plays predominantly in the film," says Paxton careful not to give away any clues to the many twists in the plotline. "Ultimately this movie is a tragedy. I saw the film as science fiction, fantasy and horror with these elements. For me it's gothic film noir. It had its roots in the country where people are isolated, a rural murder mystery."
A remarkable debut by writer Brent Hanley, Frailty is the rare case of the role coming before the film. In fact, it was producer David Kirshner (Titan A.E.) who first offered the script to Paxton in the hopes of him co-producing in order to attract a star cast and, subsequently, financing.
"And I thought, who is going to direct me in this movie? And that's where I was most worried," remembers Paxton. "And also I had been looking for something to direct and I thought this is a perfect piece for me. It's an original noir thriller with gothic horror elements, a great performers' piece. I told Kirshner that this piece has so many moods from classic gothic studio films from the '50s and '60s and '70s, and that I see myself doing this. And because there was a real concern by all of us about these two boys who play my sons in the movie, and that they're going to see what we're showing the audience the characters are seeing, we decided to shoot it in a more traditional way in implying these murders. In a way it's just as intense not showing certain elements of the gore."
Born the second of four in an upper-middle-class family, Paxton developed a love for regional atmospherics and painting from his father who was a lumber exporter. "I've always been a regionalist in many ways," he says. "My dad worked for his dad and travelled all over the Midwest collecting hardwoods. And I've always loved that part of country. I try to imbibe my films with that kind of regionalist kind of painterly quality."
As a student Paxton spent time as a foreign-exchange student in England, where he began making Super 8 movies. By the time he graduated from high school, his father bought his son a ticket to Los Angeles and set up a meeting with a movie producer he knew. Paxton began work as a set dresser for Roger Corman, then graduated to small parts in movies as forgettable as 1975's Crazy Mama and 1981's Mortuary. In the mid-'80s he was considering an offer to star in a Police Academy sequel when he got a call from set-decorator-turned-director James Cameron who first offers him a small part in Terminator, and a few years later Aliens.
Despite bouts of deep depression, Paxton stuck with the business often finding the terrific role (Carl Franklin's One False Move) and sometimes the dud (Boxing Helena). But he was getting attention, and soon he was appearing in no less than two movies a year, including Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan, which Frailty closely resembles in structure and mood.
"Absolutely," agrees Paxton. "Frailty is closer to A Simple Plan in that the actors had to do most of heavy lifting and the cameras are unobtrusive, in that way it creates the seamless illusion of pulling the viewer into a subjective experience. I'm more of a neo-classicist in what I like in films, because I don't like movies that call attention to the camera because then it becomes an objective experience. A Simple Plan was a template for me for the film."
It was also the film that should've earned Paxton an Oscar nomination.
"Yeah, I thought so too," he smiles. "I don't know. I'm lucky to just keep going. I was hoping for at least a nomination for that, in terms of what that can yield politically in terms of getting great roles. But I figure that I might have to create that opportunity for myself, so I did Frailty to give myself the most plum role I've had since A Simple Plan as well as to fulfil a dream to be a feature filmmaker."
Which brings him full circle to James Cameron, the guy who gave him the first shot at a visible role. "He's been great," says Paxton, whose married and the father of two children. "He even came into the editing room and offered advice on how to cut Frailty."
And it was with Cameron that Paxton was working on September 11 when the Twin Towers were attacked. "We were on an expedition on the Titanic," he recalls. "Jim and I were filming a documentary. A very odd place to be, very cut off from the world. Jim's theory is that unless modern man learns to head the iceberg warning - usually there are warnings before things of a cataclysmic nature happen - then we are doomed. Be it terrorism or an asteroid. That day we left a plaque on the Titanic's stern which said 'To the 1500 souls who lost their lives here. Lest we forget our humility and our vigilance the unexpected can happen anytime.' "
Ominous words that reflect the frailty of humankind.



Frailty is currently playing in local cinemas.

Publication Date: 2002-04-14
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1199