Bill "The Extreme" Harding is the deuteragonist in the 1996 disaster film, Twister. He was portrayed by Bill Paxton.
Biography[]
Bill is Jo Harding's almost ex-husband. He reunited with Jo after he and his new lover, Melissa had to meet up with the storm chasing team. He yelled at Dr. Jonas Miller for stealing the storm chasing team's invention idea. He and Jo chase several tornadoes throughout the entire film. He and Jo also used DOROTHY to throw it into the Tornado. In the final battle, he and Jo used the second machine to throw it into the F5 tornado, along with Bill's truck. In the end, he and Jo hung on to pipes by being strapped onto them, to defeat the F5 tornado. By the end of the film, he is seen with Jo while they agree to run their own lab and rekindle their marriage as they kiss.
Early Life[]
Not much is revealed about his early life except he worked at N.S.S.L prior with Jo and his rival Jonas. The rivalry between him and Jonas began due to Jonas always waiting for Bill to take initiative and Jonas taking credit for Bill’s achievements which Jo witness. Jo admired Bill for his initiatives and began a romantic relationship and they eventually married.
Prior to their marriage falling apart, they together had an idea of deploying “Dorothy” to get data of a twister to better predict actions of them.
However, their marriage fell apart because they were both stubborn, passions clashed went opposite and against each other, and didn’t handle inner issues each had causing them to separate and file for divorce. Bill eventually rebounds with his therapist, Melissa, despite not finalizing the divorce.
Work[]
The Field - Bill drove up apprehensive to the field with his fiancé Melissa. At first, Bill and Jo are cordial, with Jo clearly happy he came. Things become awkward when Melissa and Jo meet, and Bill mentions his new job as a weatherman which shocks Jo. Bill recognizes Jo’s subtle reaction to the news, and they share mild gestures of disagreement. Jo tells him the “Dorothy” is complete which excites Bill. As the group is announced that an F1 touchdown, Jo looks at Bill prolonged in hopes that he would join them. Bill finds she didn’t sign the papers and is forced to tag along to catch up with her.
F1 Chase - Bill accosts Jonas about stealing his idea, Jo intervenes and helps de-escalate. After that, Bill looks at the greenage sky and takes initiative in the chase driving with Jo. While driving, Bill and Jo clash about driving, directions, and the meaning of their marriage which Bill shows more frustration clearly angry about the separation. Bill and Jo have a close call slowly bringing them closer.
F2/Waterspout Chase - Jo looks at the speedometer, sighs with impatience. Bill sees this from Jo, shakes his head and sighs to himself, then speeds up. At the end of the waterspouts, Jo gives subtle gestures concerning Melissa picking up calls from her clients when on the chase (which they silently agree) Bill and Jo are closer together while Melissa begins to drift away from him.
Wakita/Aunt Meg’s House - Bill goes to Jo’s aunt’s house with the group. The group reveals stories of Bill that enlighten and somewhat put off his lover, Melissa. Away from Bill, Jo is comforted by her aunt concerning her relationship with Bill. She indicated to her that she still has a chance with Bill as he is there with her.
F3 Chase - As Bill gets her radio on as she drives, they subtly bond through silent gestures. They almost clash again concerning directions necessary for best chase which Jo surprisingly yields to Bill’s instruction. Bill is blunt to the fact that she hasn’t gotten past her father’s death, however, Bill acknowledges he’s here for her indicating he still loves her. Melissa witnessing from Dusty’s radio that he still has feelings for her.
F4 Destruction - The F4 destroys a drive-in theatre while they rest from the ordeals of the F3 chase. Melissa is heartbroken and terrified. After that, she breaks up with Bill saying she can’t compete with the bond he and Jo have. Bill goes with Jo to Wakita to rescue her aunt from the destruction that hits her home head on.
F5 Chase - Bill goes with Jo to deploy “Dorothy” successfully through their developed passion teamwork. However, the large twister chases them, and they narrowly survive. They latch onto bars and witness the inner funnel together as a couple before the twister dissipates. Having shared that ultimate experience together, they are brought together stronger in love than ever, talk about ideas for their career, kiss and rekindle their marriage.
Rivalry with Jonas[]
Where Bill and Jo Ann Harding have a keen sense and developed theories that have proven true from vast experiences of chasing combined with science technology of tornadoes, such as Bill's knowledge of "sidewinder" tornadoes, Jonas had become envious and competitive and began to lead his own chase group. Jonas relies more on computer technology for his insights on tornadoes and hoped to deploy his DOT3 device before Bill and Jo, being described as a "cooperate kiss-ass and seemingly in it for the money, not the science.
When Bill has some service done to his Dodge at a local garage, he suddenly notices Jonas speaking to this team with a camera on him and finds out that Jonas had made his own version of his own brainchild, Dorothy. He's presenting the machine in front of his crew for presumably promotional purposes, but Harding is enraged as he feels like his design was copied and stolen. He interrupts Jonas during his analysis and demonstration by knocking his cap off and grabbing onto him. Jonas is not impressed, and Bills team intervenes, trying to keep Bill from attacking him. Jonas' crew is also looking on as Jonas humiliates Bill by saying his ideas were unrealized. When Jo tries to calm Bill by telling him that Jonas won't manage anything with his new device, Jonas is only further motivated to name the special features his expensive looking unit has. Jonas further instigates Bill by remarking that "the days of sniffing dirt are over" and mocking Bill's weather reports as he walks away with a mean smile on his face.
Trivia[]
- Bill's truck is a 1995 Dodge Ram.
- Bill is called “The extreme” due to his boldness, stubbornness and his temper according to the group.
- He is also known by Jo’s aunt to be a human barometer. He’s empathetic to twisters and how they essentially “think”. He can tell if a twister is a sidewinder.
- Tom Hanks, Kurt Russell, Michael Keaton, Kevin Costner, Richard Gere, John Travolta, Mel Gibson, Dennis Quaid, Pierce Brosnan, Bruce Willis, Bill Pullman, Brendan Fraiser, Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Val Kilmer and John Cusack were all considered for the role of Bill Harding before the late Bill Paxton was cast. Although, Paxton and Hanks previously starred together in the 1995 Ron Howard space adventure film, Apollo 13, also released by Universal Pictures.
Gallery[]