Bill Paxton may play a polygamous businessman in HBO’s drama series, Big Love, but in real life, the 52-year-old actor’s heart belongs to only one woman- his wife, Louise Newbury, with whom he has two children.
The star of Big Love said in an interview that he has been married for twenty years, but has decided not to talk about it publicly because he finds “people who advertise themselves as virtuous family people usually get caught splitting up the next day.”
However, being committed to his wife does not necessarily mean that he has stopped admiring other members of the opposite sex.
Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn, who plays one of Paxton’s three wives in Big Love, caught Paxton’s eye while they were at a John Edwards fundraiser. The said event was held a year before Tripplehorn and Paxton were cast in the drama series.
“I saw her across the room and wanted to meet her really badly,” Paxton said.
The two share a close relationship, but things are not going so well between their characters in the show’s current season. Tripplehorn’s Barbara Henrickson has left her polygamous marriage in order to search for her identity.
In real life, Tripplehorn, who said that she “genuinely adores” Paxton’s wife, has been married to actor Leland Orser for seven years. They have one son, August, who was born in 2002.
Polygamy is not the only thing that does not translate into the Big Love stars’ marriages. For one, Paxton said he finds it hard to give his wife space when she needs to assess her feelings, unlike his character, Bill, who can distance himself from Barbara when she needs time to sort through her personal issues.
“I can’t go to bed feeling (unresolved),” he said. “(My wife) can harbor it a bit. She’ll give me the silent treatment, which drives me crazy.”
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Gannett News service
(Photo Courtesy of HBO)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
