Bill Paxton (left) and Helen Hunt (right) hold on for their
lives.
Mother Nature plays the starring role in the action-adventure Twister.
Helen Hunt stars as the courageous Jo Harding.
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Before it was over, the making of Twister would become as much of an adventure for the cast and crew as
for the characters in the film. They found themselves battling the same torrential rain and pounding hail as
the storm chasers in the story.
"I wanted to make this movie look as realistic as possible and to film in the countryside where tornadoes take
place. My goal was for the audience to get the feeling of really participating in this movie," explains director
Jan De Bont. "I enjoy portraying things that happen in real life. To me, life is like an action movie, it's
very exciting, and I try to bring that to my films."
This immersion in reality began with the script, which was meticulously researched by the husband-and-wife team
of Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. The couple, who describe their first writing collaboration as "a very
good time," originated the idea of a movie centered around tornadoes. They infused their script with the
scientific reality of meteorology, as well as the unique personalities of storm-chasers.
Helen Hunt, not dissuaded by Jan's description of rough filming conditions,
was eager to tackle such a physically demanding leading part. "I love the fact that it was
as physical as it was," Helen says. "I like getting dirt under my nails, and crawling around in the mud is sort
of good for me. Psychologically, I like to be in a place where there's a lot of green and a lot of open space,
so I had a great time."
Like his co-star, Texas-born Bill Paxton was attracted to the physical demands of the
role. "I knew Jan wanted someone
who could do a lot of the stunt work, because he really believes in putting the actors as close to the action as
possible, and I was totally into it."
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