Helen Hunt Looks Back at Her Role in the Blockbuster Movie ‘Twister’

Helen Hunt is a critically acclaimed actress and filmmaker with accolades like Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes under her belt. This year, she is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She is best known for movies like Mad About You, As Good as It Gets, The Sessions, and Soul Surfer, among others. 

The most notable movie she has worked on is probably the 1996 classic Twister. The Oscar-nominated disaster adventure film was produced by the legendary Steven Spielberg. 

The movie was well-received among critics and fans. It has been 25 years since the film was released, and fans have been demanding a reboot. 

Hunt has also expressed her interest in directing the reboot. 

Hunt's Initially Did Not Want the Role

The critically acclaimed actress played the eccentric meteorologist, Dr. Joanne "Jo" Harding, opposite the late Bill Paxton. On July 1, 2021, Hunt recalled her experience playing the meteorologist on The Kelly Clarkson Show. 

She confessed she was reluctant to take the job. Since the movie is about a tornado wreaking havoc, she thought the tornado would be the movie’s star instead of her. 

She later changed her mind after having lunch with Spielberg. The director took her to a fancy restaurant and asked her to be in Twister, to which Hunt agreed. 

Unfortunately, the experience was terrifying for the actress. She opened up to HuffPost about how she got nightmares while filming it. Hunt said that there was minimal CGI, and many events portrayed in the movie were real while filming. 

Nonetheless, her performance was phenomenal and widely appreciated. It earned her the Blockbuster Entertainment Award, and she was also nominated for the Saturn Awards and the MTV Movie + TV Awards. 

Hunt's Idea for ‘Twister’ Was Rejected 

On June 2020, it was reported that a reboot of the disaster blockbuster was on the way. Universal Pictures is responsible for the reboot with Joseph Kosinski as the director and Frank Marshall and Sarah Scott as producers.

Kosinski is best known for computer-generated imagery work in his movies. Some of his notable works are Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, and Top Gun: Maverick. 

There has been no further news about the plot and the actors in the movie. Hunt, who enjoyed being in the first movie, also wanted to be a part of the reboot. 

On Watch What Happens Live, hosted by Andy Cohen, the actress revealed she pitched in her ideas for the reboot of Twister. Although she showed an interest in directing the reboot, her pitch was never heard. 

She wanted to write the plot with excellent screenwriters Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs and then direct the movie. Hunt was also opting for a diverse cast, something that was not there in the original film. 

The actress approached Universal Pictures in June 2020 to sit for a meeting to discuss her pitch. However, she “could barely get a meeting.”

Regardless, she would still love to be a part of the film reprising her role as Dr. Harding. She said that she would play the "elder, tired, haggard” doctor if asked as such. 

Twister, made with an estimated budget of $80 million, was a massive success worldwide, with the box office collection of a whopping $456 million. 

But looking at the movie’s legacy, many critics have questioned if the reboot would do as well as the original.

Regardless, nothing can be said about this unless the reboot is made and aired in the near future.