Bill Paxton: 5 Awesome Performances (And Five That Sucked)

by Danny Meegan

1. Ray O'Malley - Boxing Helena (1993)

Boxing Helena 1993 Film Bill Paxton
Orion Pictures

If there's one thing Bill Paxton usually always does, it's stick to his guns. His performance in Spy Kids was bad, but at least it was consistently bad, the actor choosing a direction and sticking to it firmly.

Well, here's one example where that's not the case.

Boxing Helena is a sombre, horrific tale about a woman who has all her limbs amputated by a surgeon who holds her captive in his house, and yet, Paxton does a parody of every self-centred, pretentious jock from every high-school movie ever, the actor seemingly caught between going full-on funny, and full on a-hole.

The result is a performance you're neither laughing at or feeling threatened by. If Paxton had fully committed to either angle, things may have worked out a bit better - at least then his intent would have been clear - but as it stands, we don't have a clue what on Earth he was trying to pull off here.

What are your favourite and least favourite Bill Paxton performances? Leave your picks in the comments section!

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.