Bill Paxton's Son Is Taking Over His 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Role

From Men's Health

As Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. starts approaching its series finale, the show is making a habit of bringing back old characters and shining them in a new light. While the final season focuses on Agent Phil Coulson and his fellow agents time-traveling to stop the evil alien Chronicoms from erasing S.H.I.E.L.D. from existence, it’s also re-introducing familiar faces, whether it be Agent Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) or a member of the Koenig family (Patton Oswalt), always there to bring a little humor to the ever-so dire situation.

In “Stolen,” the tenth episode of the season, fans get reacquainted with a not-so friendly face—John Garrett (Bill Paxton), the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who not only became the first subject for Project Deathlok, but also became the face of HYDRA (aka the group looking to take over all humanity—surely you remember "Hail Hydra" from Captain America: The Winter Soldier) in Season 1. While he’s still helping HYDRA become the all-powerful organization (under the guise of Nathaniel Malick) in 1983, where the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have involuntarily time-jumped to, this Garrett has not yet reached his full potential—he’s only there to help recruit Inhumans to join in on Malick’s revolution.

Though Garrett might not necessarily be the character fans hoped to be brought back, the man cast to portray the younger version of Paxton’s character is directly related to the late actor—it’s his son, 26-year-old James. And like his father, who died in February 2017 after suffering a stroke, Paxton clearly has acting chops and an already impressive resume under his belt.

Here’s what we know about the young actor:

He’s proud to be playing a role originated by his dad.

In July 2020, Clark Gregg teased Paxton’s involvement in the final season to ComicBook.com, but didn’t say in what capacity. “We’ve had a couple of people that I really loved working with who are no longer with us, Bill Paxton,” he told the publication. “I really wished to have more time with him. I don’t know. It’d be really amazing if there was some way to feel like we had the spirit of Bill Paxton with us. Maybe that’ll happen this season.”

Fans clearly loved the intentional casting, and Paxton was grateful to them for being so supportive of his role. “It was truly a blast bringing [Garrett] to life,” he tweeted. “Also an emotional roller coaster. But a blast nonetheless.”

This isn’t his first role in Hollywood.

While Paxton is gaining attention for his portrayal of a young John Garrett, this isn’t his first time acting. He’s been in a few of his father’s projects, including Training Day and Texas Rising. He’s also starred in projects like Eyewitness, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, and The Greatest Game Ever Played.

He likes to play music in his spare time.

In a 2016 article with Interview Magazine, the actor revealed that in his spare time, he likes to create music with a friend from his childhood years. “We jokingly call it ‘food music’ because we have no idea what to call it exactly,” he told the publication. “I can rap; that’s what I was originally really good at. I started putting words together, making rhymes and being witty with the wordplay. I can play a little bit of guitar, and that’s something I’m going to dedicate more time to doing."

He often posts tributes to his father.

While his social media accounts often feature posts of him with friends or promoting projects, he often likes to share throwback photos and videos of him with his father, who he says never pushed him to become an actor.

“He never discouraged me from the business, but kind of warned me and said, ‘You know, you might want to reconsider. It’s a hard, hard life and a hard business to crack,'” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2018 of his relationship with his father. “He always knew I could do it. But he couldn’t believe it at first. He was so over the moon. It was such a great feeling, I almost cried. I hate to get emotional, but it was almost my way of telling him, ‘I could do this. You don’t have to worry about me. I can do this on my own.'”

is airing now on ABC.

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