The 32-year-old actor already has two movies out this year \u2014 one of which premiered at South by Southwest \u2014 and released new music both through his band and his solo project. He also shot a couple of other films this year.<\/p>\n
Paxton\u2019s latest film, \u201cLast Train to Fortune,\u201d<\/a> releases on Thursday, Sept. 17.<\/p>\n The film \u201cfollows Cecil Peachtree (Malcolm McDowell), a schoolteacher, and Dooley (Paxton), an outlaw, as they strike a deal and develop an odd friendship along the road to Fortune after having to deal with gunfights, jailbreaks and saloon gals on the way,\u201d the film\u2019s logline reads.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n \u201cLast Train to Fortune\u201d is playing at Dallas\u2019 Angelika Film Center & Caf\u00e9<\/a> on Sept. 17, Sept. 23 and Sept. 24. The film is also screening at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth on Oct. 22.<\/a><\/p>\n Ahead of the film\u2019s release, Paxton \u2014 son of the late Fort Worth actor Bill Paxton, who died in 2017<\/a> \u2014 spoke with the Star-Telegram over Zoom earlier this year about the new Western and his past travels to Fort Worth.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n Star-Telegram: James, you\u2019re having quite the year. You already have one movie out in \u201cGRAGN<\/a>\u201d and another, \u201cGrind<\/a>,\u201d played South by Southwest earlier this year. You have new music out through your band, Soundaze<\/a>, and your solo project \u2014 Love, Pax<\/a>. What\u2019s in the water?<\/p>\n James Paxton: [Laughs] It\u2019s one of those nice years where years of work is finally kind of making its way out into the world. Because with creative projects especially, you kind of have to lay siege to them. You\u2019re in it for the long run, and sometimes it takes a long time to shepherd these things out, and it\u2019s all about timing. This year just happens to be when basically years\u2019 worth of work from the last two, three years is all finally culminating and coming out now. It seems like I\u2019m kind of firing on all cylinders. But that\u2019s how I prefer things to be.<\/p>\n I think staying busy is always a blessing, and it\u2019s kind of just snowballing and catching momentum and leading to other things. I just booked another film, and I\u2019m going to the East Coast to shoot that. I wrapped a film last year that the Laugh Factory produced. It\u2019s a comedy called \u201cToad,\u201d<\/a> and that\u2019s in post-production. It\u2019s just kind of like everything happening at once, but really it\u2019s not like an overnight thing. I\u2019ve been working on this stuff for a long time.<\/p>\n S-T: \u201cLast Train to Fortune\u201d is your first leading role in a Western, I believe. You were in \u201cTexas Rising,\u201d but that\u2019s more a historical text. I\u2019m curious about your feelings on the Western genre as a whole.<\/p>\n JP: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, my dad, he\u2019s from Cowtown, of course, and I grew up on Westerns. One of my dad\u2019s heroes is Clint Eastwood. I remember a particular favorite of mine when I was a kid was \u201cThe Outlaw Josey Wales,\u201d but I also love \u201cThe Cowboys.\u201d I watched more Westerns, I would say, when I was a kid, up until my early teen years. I\u2019ve always been a fan of the genre, but in my preparation for \u201cLast Train to Fortune,\u201d it really took me back into my childhood love of the Western. I watched 80-something Westerns. I just watched from all time periods, because I had ample time on that film to really prepare.<\/p>\n The Western genre really is what started the great movie epic. Movies shooting on anamorphic lenses designed for movie palaces. I don\u2019t want to speak for all actors when I say this, but I think for most actors it\u2019s true that getting to do a Western is kind of like a rite of passage and a bucket list item and a dream role for an actor. I grew up horseback riding, too, which was great, so I always wanted to do that on camera and put that skill to use.<\/p>\n What I love about \u201cLast Train to Fortune\u201d is it adds to the Western genre, because there\u2019s not a single Western that\u2019s similar to it that I\u2019ve watched. I mean, it\u2019s set in a timeless landscape that unites all those great films, the Old West, but it\u2019s a unique story in terms of what happens in the characters. It\u2019s also a family-friendly Western, which many Westerns are not, so it\u2019s kind of unique in that regard to the genre. I feel like it\u2019s a feather in my cap that I\u2019m so proud of, that I got to make a Western, at least one.<\/p>\n S-T: I\u2019m curious how you came to \u201cLast Train to Fortune,\u201d because the story is that your dad was going to play the same part you\u2019re playing now. How did this land on your desk?<\/p>\n JP: I wasn\u2019t aware of this film at all before my dad passed away. It was something that he had spoken about with Adam Rifkin, the director, and Malcolm [McDowell] at the time. Adam was going to produce it back in the early \u201890s, because his mother wrote it. She was a retired film and TV writer when we finally made it. Malcolm was going to have Lindsay Anderson direct it. They had a few talks in development about it, but then you know Lindsay Anderson was older [and] he passed away six months into those talks. It went away and all that happened in the early \u201890s, actually, before I was born.<\/p>\n I never talked to dad about it, never came up. Then I think at his memorial, Adam Rifkin and producer Brad Wyman came up to me, and they didn\u2019t get into it there. I mean, it wasn\u2019t a place to talk about making a film, but they just said, \u201cHey, we have something special, we\u2019re gonna reach out at some point soon with it.\u201d Then they ended up reaching out about it in like, early 2018 and we talked about it. I read the script, and I was just like, \u201cThis is so special.\u201d<\/p>\n They were really hell-bent on reviving it and making it happen. It was a bucket list thing for Adam to direct and bring to life for his mother. It had won a PBS screenwriting competition as a script back in 1986 and Adam\u2019s mother won a bit of prize money with that. It\u2019s just this timeless script, so it ended up falling into place in a beautiful way. I think in a way that dad would actually have appreciated and said, \u201cThis is how it was always meant to be. This was your role.\u201d<\/p>\n What changed and actually made it better, and I think he would agree, is there\u2019s a larger age disparity between the two main characters, between Malcolm, who\u2019s older now when he plays the part, and I play a younger version of the part than my dad would have at that time. [My dad] would have been in his 40s. It kind of makes more sense, this mentor relationship in this kind of teacher-student way, although they both are sort of the teacher and the student at times. My character, Jedidiah Dooley, teaches Malcolm\u2019s character the harsh realities of the Old West. Malcolm\u2019s character is this prim and proper English schoolmaster, who is well-educated in books and in literature, but he doesn\u2019t have any clue. He\u2019s a fish out of water in the Old West. They kind of both teach each other something. I think that age disparity really adds to the effectiveness of the story. Sometimes things take a long road, but they\u2019re meant to be a certain way. I know dad would be really excited about it. I feel like the project had these guardian angels looking out for it and cheering us on.<\/p>\n S-T: You mentioned Fort Worth earlier, so I have to ask you about it.<\/p>\n JP: I love it.<\/p>\n S-T: How often do you come back this way?<\/p>\n JP: I haven\u2019t been in a few years, but I\u2019ve been back and forth to Fort Worth my whole life. I love going to Joe T. Garcia\u2019s, I love that what they did with Sundance Square there, and I love staying at the Worthington [Renaissance Hotel]. I love the film festival, Lone Star Film Festival<\/a>. My dad was involved in the early stages of that festival being set up. I really enjoy it, the rodeo, Stockyards, the Isis Theater. I like going to visit some of the homes dad grew up in around the area, like driving in front of them and checking them out. Dad would take me out there and tell me stories. I got to spend a lot of time with dad in Fort Worth. I\u2019m due to for a trip back, actually [laughs]. I miss those margaritas at Joe T\u2019s.<\/p>\n S-T: I was looking back through the Star-Telegram\u2019s photo archives and found some photos of you running around the festival as a kid.<\/p>\n JP: I have a very good memory of, I was 13 during the first Lone Star Film Festival, I think it was 2007 and Harry Dean Stanton was there and hanging out with us, who was a good friend of Dad\u2019s. Fred Durst was there hanging out with us. I remember Jason Ritter was there. We had just a great group of people, and we were seeing all these movies, and just enjoying Cowtown. I just think it\u2019s a wonderful city, and I have so much love for it. I feel my dad\u2019s presence every time I go there, and yeah, I\u2019m half-Texan. I love my roots.<\/p>\n S-T: A lot has changed in the filmmaking industry in Fort Worth and Texas as a whole, especially after this new film incentive bill passed last year. More stuff is being made here like the various Taylor Sheridan shows like \u201cLandman.\u201d<\/p>\n JP: Speaking of \u201cLandman,\u201d one of my really close actor friends plays Cooper, Jacob Lofland.<\/a> The last time I was in Cowtown was with Jacob for the premiere of \u201c12 Mighty Orphans,\u201d<\/a> which he was in. I had another friend of mine in the film, and I was just working on another movie with those same producers as that film, and I was shooting in Tyler, Texas. When we wrapped that, we went to Fort Worth for a week and enjoyed the premiere. I was with Jacob, and he loves it out there. It\u2019s really cool how much of a filming hub it\u2019s become thanks to Taylor Sheridan. I think it\u2019s really awesome.<\/p>\n \u201cLast Train to Fortune\u201d is out in theaters now.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/JamesMalcolm.jpeg\" "\\"JamesMalcolm.jpeg\\"")
James Paxton and Malcolm McDowell in \u201cLast Train to Fortune.\u201d Greg Gorman Courtesy of TriCoast Entertainment <\/p>\n Journalist Bob Schieffer meets Fort Worth actor Bill Paxton’s son James Paxton (far right). Journalists who covered the trip to Texas of President John F. Kennedy, and local residents who heard the historic last speech, shared their stories at the \u201cFort Worth Remembers JFK\u201d program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth September 11, 2013. The Schieffer School of Journalism and the Star-Telegram partnered in producing the program. Paul Moseley Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
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Actor Bill Paxton poses with his son James outside of the AMC Palace 9 theater in Fort Worth, Friday, Nov. 9, 2007. Bill Janscha Special to the Star-Telegram\/Bill Janscha <\/p>\n![\"Lone](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PHi_j0234(22).JPG\" "\\"PHi_j0234(22).JPG\\"")
Lone Star Film Society honors Bill Paxton FW Community Arts Center: January 21, 2006 L-R: Therese Moncrief, James Paxton, Lydia Paxton, Louise Paxton, Bill Paxton. Sharon Corcoran Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789720700_219_BraydenHeadshot.jpg\")