James Cameron Regrets Being Such A Dictator On Set And Wishes He Could Be More Like Ron Howard
If you Google “James Cameron is an asshole,” you’ll get a list of stories longer than the running time of his movies, which are the CVS receipts of movies. And I’m not talking about James Cameron hating on a movie about a mythical fish man not being realistic enough, or how Wonder Woman is an objectified icon that we should not be praising. I’m talking about the stories of how working with James Cameron is about as pleasant as running a mile while wearing nothing but a thong made of rusty piano wire. James has a reputation of being Hollywood’s answer to Kim Jon-un, and he recently brought that up and said he regrets acting that way and wishes he could be more like Ron Howard. Don’t we fucking all?!
James has been called one of the most demanding and tyrannical directors in Hollywood. Ed Harris reportedly hated James Cameron’s physically tormenting ways so much while making The Abyss that he refused to do promo for it. James’ fourth ex-wife Linda Hamilton said that they fought all the time during the filming of Terminator and she finally screamed at his ass to treat her like a damn human being. Well, the James Cameron of today regrets that.
James did one of those Masterclasses where an expert burps up their knowledge. While I wait for Angelyne to do a Masterclass on How To Be The Most Gorgeous Being Who Ever Lived, James Cameron did one on filmmaking. /Film did a review of James’ Masterclass and he mentioned how he wishes he could’ve been “less autocratic” with the cast and crew of his movies and not so much of a “tinpot dictator.” And yes, I had to look up “autocratic” since I thought it was a sex thing involving cars.
To Cameron’s credit, he doesn’t try to defend any of his past antics or even downplay them. To be sure, he doesn’t spend huge chunks of time dwelling on them. But he does say that if he could go back and do one thing differently in his career, it would be to improve the nature of the working relationships he had with his cast and crew members. “I could’ve listened more,” he says. “I could’ve been less autocratic. I could’ve not made the movie more important than the human interaction of the crew.” He even calls himself a “tinpot dictator.” (I should also note that Cameron adds that he doesn’t think of himself as cruel, just demanding.)
If Ron Howard ever does a Masterclass on How Not To Be A Throbbing Hemmerhoid Tyrant Of A Movie Director, James Cameron would be the first to sign up because he wishes his directing style was a little more like Opie’s:
Cameron goes on to talk about how the ideal director, in terms of on-set behavior, is certified nice guy Ron Howard. There’s a funny moment where Cameron mentions that he visited one of Howard’s sets once and was “dumbfounded” at how much time Howard takes complimenting people on his set. And while Cameron and Howard are vastly different filmmakers, Cameron adds: “I aspire, even today, to try to be my inner Ron Howard.”
Hmm, I wonder if James tried to channel Ron Howard while shooting the Avatar sequels. If he did, he probably threw in a “please,” after shouting during a Na’vi fuck scene, “Good lord, will you wiggle your hips a little extra! Make it look realistic!”
Pic: Wenn.com