<P> Twister is a 1996 American epic disaster adventure film starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as storm chasers researching tornadoes . It was directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne - Marie Martin . Its executive producers were Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Gerald R. Molen . Twister was the second - highest - grossing film of 1996 domestically, with an estimated 54,688,100 tickets sold in the US . </P> <P> In June 1969, in Oklahoma, 5 - year - old Jo Thornton (Alexa Vega), her parents (Richard Lineback and Rusty Schwimmer), and their dog Toby seek shelter in their storm cellar as a dangerous F5 tornado hits their farm . The tornado is so strong that the storm cellar door is ripped off, which causes Jo's father to be pulled into the storm to his death to the girl's devastation . Jo, her mother, and Toby survive . </P> <P> 27 years later in the present day in March 1996, 32 - year - old Jo (Helen Hunt), now a meteorologist, is reunited with her estranged husband, Bill "The Extreme" Harding (Bill Paxton), a former weather researcher and storm chaser, who has since become a weather reporter . He has a brand new Dodge Ram pickup truck and is planning to marry sex therapist Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz). They need Jo's signature on the divorce papers and have tracked her down during an active bout of stormy weather . Jo has built four identical tornado research devices called DOROTHY, based on Bill's designs . The device is designed to release hundreds of sensors into the center of a tornado to study its structure from the inside, with the purpose of creating a more advanced storm warning system . Bill and Melissa join Jo and her team of storm chasers, and the team encounters Dr. Jonas Miller (Cary Elwes), a smug, corporate - funded meteorologist and storm chaser . When Bill discovers that Jonas has created a device based on DOROTHY, called DOT - 3, he vows to help Jo deploy DOROTHY before Miller can claim credit for the idea . The team receives news that an F1 tornado is forming not too far away so they get inside the vehicles . </P> <P> Bill and Jo use the yellow Jeep truck which is owned by Jo to reach the F1 Tornado . They zoom fast down a dirt path when Beltzer on radio tells that the funnel is getting thick and moving faster . They get stuck in the road followed by areas of mud . Jo's truck smashes into a small wooden bridge and Bill and Jo get out . While taking cover, Jo's truck and DOROTHY I are both destroyed . They continue storm chasing in Bill's truck, with Melissa in the back seat . They find the second tornado, a confirmed F2 tornado, and head off on a back road when the twister shifts its track . They soon find themselves driving through heavy rain, and instead, while driving over a bridge above a lake, run into a cluster of two waterspouts, spinning them around on the highway until they dissipate . They're fine, but Melissa becomes hysterical from the ordeal, and Bill has to calm her down . </P>

Who played bill paxton's fiance in twister