FORT WORTH, Texas — James Paxton is having quite the year.

The 32-year-old actor already has two movies out this year — one of which premiered at South by Southwest — and released new music both through his band and his solo project. He also shot a couple of other films this year.

Paxton’s latest film, “Last Train to Fortune,” debuted last week.

The film “follows Cecil Peachtree (Malcolm McDowell), a schoolteacher, and Dooley (Paxton), an outlaw, as they strike a deal and develop an odd friendship along the road to Fortune after having to deal with gunfights, jailbreaks and saloon gals on the way,” the film’s logline reads.

Ahead of the film’s release, Paxton — son of the late Fort Worth actor Bill Paxton, who died in 2017 — spoke with the Star-Telegram over Zoom earlier this year about the new Western and his past travels to Fort Worth.

[This interview has been edited for clarity and length.]

Q: James, you’re having quite the year. You already have one movie out in “GRAGN” and another, “Grind,” played South by Southwest earlier this year. You have new music out through your band, Soundaze, and your solo project — Love, Pax. What’s in the water?

A: [Laughs] It’s one of those nice years where years of work is finally kind of making its way out into the world. Because with creative projects especially, you kind of have to lay siege to them. You’re in it for the long run, and sometimes it takes a long time to shepherd these things out, and it’s all about timing. This year just happens to be when basically years’ worth of work from the last two, three years is all finally culminating and coming out now. It seems like I’m kind of firing on all cylinders. But that’s how I prefer things to be.

I think staying busy is always a blessing, and it’s kind of just snowballing and catching momentum and leading to other things. I just booked another film, and I’m going to the East Coast to shoot that. I wrapped a film last year that the Laugh Factory produced. It’s a comedy called “Toad,” and that’s in postproduction. It’s just kind of like everything happening at once, but really it’s not like an overnight thing. I’ve been working on this stuff for a long time.

Q: “Last Train to Fortune” is your first leading role in a Western, I believe. You were in “Texas Rising,” but that’s more a historical text. I’m curious about your feelings on the Western genre as a whole.

A: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, my dad, he’s from Cowtown, of course, and I grew up on Westerns. One of my dad’s heroes is Clint Eastwood. I remember a particular favorite of mine when I was a kid was “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” but I also love “The Cowboys.” I watched more Westerns, I would say, when I was a kid, up until my early teen years. I’ve always been a fan of the genre, but in my preparation for “Last Train to Fortune,” it really took me back into my childhood love of the Western. I watched 80-something Westerns. I just watched from all time periods, because I had ample time on that film to really prepare.

The Western genre really is what started the great movie epic. Movies shooting on anamorphic lenses designed for movie palaces. I don’t want to speak for all actors when I say this, but I think for most actors it’s true that getting to do a Western is kind of like a rite of passage and a bucket list item and a dream role for an actor. I grew up horseback riding, too, which was great, so I always wanted to do that on camera and put that skill to use.

What I love about “Last Train to Fortune” is it adds to the Western genre, because there’s not a single Western that’s similar to it that I’ve watched. I mean, it’s set in a timeless landscape that unites all those great films, the Old West, but it’s a unique story in terms of what happens in the characters. It’s also a family-friendly Western, which many Westerns are not, so it’s kind of unique in that regard to the genre. I feel like it’s a feather in my cap that I’m so proud of, that I got to make a Western, at least one.

Q: I’m curious how you came to “Last Train to Fortune,” because the story is that your dad was going to play the same part you’re playing now. How did this land on your desk?

A: I wasn’t aware of this film at all before my dad passed away. It was something that he had spoken about with Adam Rifkin, the director, and Malcolm [McDowell] at the time. Adam was going to produce it back in the early ‘90s, because his mother wrote it. She was a retired film and TV writer when we finally made it. Malcolm was going to have Lindsay Anderson direct it. They had a few talks in development about it, but then you know Lindsay Anderson was older [and] he passed away six months into those talks. It went away and all that happened in the early ‘90s, actually, before I was born.

I never talked to dad about it, never came up. Then I think at his memorial, Adam Rifkin and producer Brad Wyman came up to me, and they didn’t get into it there. I mean, it wasn’t a place to talk about making a film, but they just said, “Hey, we have something special, we’re gonna reach out at some point soon with it.” Then they ended up reaching out about it in like, early 2018 and we talked about it. I read the script, and I was just like, “This is so special.”

They were really hell-bent on reviving it and making it happen. It was a bucket list thing for Adam to direct and bring to life for his mother. It had won a PBS screenwriting competition as a script back in 1986 and Adam’s mother won a bit of prize money with that. It’s just this timeless script, so it ended up falling into place in a beautiful way. I think in a way that dad would actually have appreciated and said, “This is how it was always meant to be. This was your role.”

What changed and actually made it better, and I think he would agree, is there’s a larger age disparity between the two main characters, between Malcolm, who’s older now when he plays the part, and I play a younger version of the part than my dad would have at that time. [My dad] would have been in his 40s. It kind of makes more sense, this mentor relationship in this kind of teacher-student way, although they both are sort of the teacher and the student at times. My character, Jedidiah Dooley, teaches Malcolm’s character the harsh realities of the Old West. Malcolm’s character is this prim and proper English schoolmaster, who is well-educated in books and in literature, but he doesn’t have any clue. He’s a fish out of water in the Old West. They kind of both teach each other something. I think that age disparity really adds to the effectiveness of the story. Sometimes things take a long road, but they’re meant to be a certain way. I know dad would be really excited about it. I feel like the project had these guardian angels looking out for it and cheering us on.

Q: You mentioned Fort Worth earlier, so I have to ask you about it.

A: I love it.

Q: How often do you come back this way?

A: I haven’t been in a few years, but I’ve been back and forth to Fort Worth my whole life. I love going to Joe T. Garcia’s, I love that what they did with Sundance Square there, and I love staying at the Worthington [Renaissance Hotel]. I love the film festival, Lone Star Film Festival. My dad was involved in the early stages of that festival being set up. I really enjoy it, the rodeo, Stockyards, the Isis Theater. I like going to visit some of the homes dad grew up in around the area, like driving in front of them and checking them out. Dad would take me out there and tell me stories. I got to spend a lot of time with dad in Fort Worth. I’m due to for a trip back, actually [laughs]. I miss those margaritas at Joe T’s.

Q: I was looking back through the Star-Telegram’s photo archives and found some photos of you running around the festival as a kid.

A: I have a very good memory of, I was 13 during the first Lone Star Film Festival, I think it was 2007 and Harry Dean Stanton was there and hanging out with us, who was a good friend of Dad’s. Fred Durst was there hanging out with us. I remember Jason Ritter was there. We had just a great group of people, and we were seeing all these movies, and just enjoying Cowtown. I just think it’s a wonderful city, and I have so much love for it. I feel my dad’s presence every time I go there, and yeah, I’m half-Texan. I love my roots.

Q: A lot has changed in the filmmaking industry in Fort Worth and Texas as a whole, especially after this new film incentive bill passed last year. More stuff is being made here like the various Taylor Sheridan shows like “Landman.”

A: Speaking of “Landman,” one of my really close actor friends plays Cooper, Jacob Lofland. The last time I was in Cowtown was with Jacob for the premiere of “12 Mighty Orphans,” which he was in. I had another friend of mine in the film, and I was just working on another movie with those same producers as that film, and I was shooting in Tyler, Texas. When we wrapped that, we went to Fort Worth for a week and enjoyed the premiere. I was with Jacob, and he loves it out there. It’s really cool how much of a filming hub it’s become thanks to Taylor Sheridan. I think it’s really awesome.

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“Last Train to Fortune” is out in theaters now.

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