For Bill Paxton's Birthday, Here's A Bill Paxton Story You Might Like

Sunday would have been Bill Paxton's 71st birthday. It has, somehow, been over nine years since he died and he's an actor I miss a lot. I have a Bill Paxton story I've never really told and, hopefully, paints a picture of the kind of guy he was.

In 2013, I was working for HuffPost and was scheduled to meet Paxton out for lunch to discuss his role in the movie 2 Guns, of all things. Paxton was relishing that, after five seasons on Big Love, he now got to play a scenery-chewing villain opposite Denzel Washington.

Okay, back to the "meeting out for lunch" part: this was a little unusual. I have done a lot of interviews in my career, but I've only done the whole "meet out at a restaurant" style of interview a handful of times. They are time-consuming, so not exactly the best use of time for the person promoting something. In the time one of these takes, they could have easily done five interviews at a hotel junket. This is what makes them rare. For me, I have mixed opinions. They are awkward.¹ A lot of salads are ordered because eating something heavy makes them more awkward. Also, I really don't love trying to eat a meal while also doing an interview? It's just a lot of tasks at once. On the other hand: if the person being interviewed has agreed to an interview like this, there is an expectation they will be more personal and any topic is on the table.² That part I like.

¹One of my earliest experiences with this was being sent to meet Jane Fonda at a restaurant on 5th Avenue near Central Park. Usually the table is discrete, in a cozy nook. When I arrived, Jane Fonda was already there, sitting at a table right smack in the middle of this busy restaurant. I remember many, many people looking over at us, no doubt thinking, "Who is this loser with Jane Fonda?"

²Personally, I feel any topic is on the table in every interview. The person being interviewed does not always see it this way.

The part that made this more unusual was this wasn't an awards movie. Or something that was destined to be a no-doubt-about-it blockbuster. It was 2 Guns. The kind of movie that could still make $130 million back then, but would no doubt be a streaming movie now. But, we were told by Bill Paxton's people, he wanted to meet out for lunch. And he wanted to eat oysters.

He did not want to eat oysters. I have no idea whose idea it was to meet at an oyster bar, but I can promise you it was not mine. And, apparently, not his either. He wanted to eat somewhere else. So there's me and Bill Paxton, just walking down the street together, looking for somewhere to eat.

During the actual interview, Bill Paxton had nowhere to be and nothing to do, so he asked if I wanted to just keep hanging out. This wasn't some grand strategy to make me like him; I already liked him. Bill Paxton was a good actor, but I did truly believe he had nothing to do. For me, my choice was to go back to the Huffington Post office, or hang out with Bill Paxton. So, yes, I just hung out with Bill Paxton.

The day after the full interview published, he emailed me.