Bill Paxton's son James makes a cameo in one of the most thrilling scenes in 'Twisters'

James Paxton has a cameo in "Twisters," his dad Bill was the star of the 1996 original hit movie.

• Bill Paxton starred in the original "Twister" movie in 1996.
• His son, James, makes a cameo in the sequel, "Twisters," to pay homage to his father, who died in 2017.
• "I did this one for Dad," James Paxton told Entertainment Weekly.

Though "Twisters" doesn't feature any of the stars from the 1996 blockbuster "Twister," the legacy sequel has a cameo that pays homage to the original — if you look closely.

In the scene following Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) attending a rodeo that gets halted by an oncoming tornado, the two run for safety in a motel where an unruly man is complaining about his room.

As Kate and Tyler get everyone to hide for cover inside an empty pool, the unruly man and a woman go into his car, which suddenly gets sucked up into the tornado.

James Paxton plays the unruly man. He's the son of the late actor Bill Paxton, who starred in the original movie opposite Helen Hunt.

"It's an Easter egg for the fans of Dad and the original," James told Entertainment Weekly. "I did this one for Dad."

Bill Paxton died in 2017 at the age of 61 due to complications following heart surgery.

James, 30, was just over a year old when the original hit film, "Twister," was made. He didn't really know about the movie until he was 10 when it was constantly playing on cable, he recalled to Variety. In fact, his dad would even catch it on TV.

"Dad was making dinner, and he called me in, like, 'Hey, look, what's on. It's your old man,'" James told the trade.

James told EW he signed on for the cameo to represent his father on set.

"I wanted to be a conduit for his spirit there and cheer everyone in this production on to success because I know he would be," James said. "I wanted to do something that really honors his presence in this new chapter and really do something for him."

"Twisters," which topped the box office earning $80 million domestically, is not the first time James has honored his father on screen. He guest-starred on Marvel's "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." as an alternate version of John Garrett, the character his father had played on the ABC series.

James' other credits include the Netflix original movie "Velvet Buzzsaw" and TV series "Eyewitness" and "Training Day," which also starred his father.

"Twisters" is currently playing in theaters.