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

3. Hudson - Aliens (1986)

Bill Paxton Aliens
20th Century Fox

After a small role in 1984's The Terminator, Paxton quickly re-teamed with director James Cameron for sci-fi epic Aliens, starring as the "ultimate badass" Private Hudson.

While Hudson will, like the two Paxton roles we just discussed, be fondly remembered for his funnier moments and lines, the level of realism and depth the actor brought to the fledgling marine cannot be understated.

Initially cocky and arrogant, Hudson transforms into a nervous wreck when the situation takes a turn for the worse and everyone's lives are in danger. He reacts exactly how we'd all react in his shoes, and when compared to his relentlessly calm, unshakable teammates, he feels like the most human character in the movie.

And then, yes, there are all the amusing moments - "game over, man, game over!" and "Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?" among them - and when you combine these with the character's relatability, it's easy to understand why Hudson will go down as one of Paxton's most enduring roles.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!