Anecdotes

After seeing Star Wars: Épisode IV - Un nouvel espoir (1977), Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry.

A magazine article written about him in the 1980s described how he had three desks set up in his house. At one desk, he was writing the script to Terminator (1984), on another, he was finishing the script to Rambo II : La Mission (1985) and on the third, he was writing Aliens, le retour (1986).

Married one of his producers and two of his actresses.

Jokingly refers to Titanic (1997) as his 190 Million Dollar "Chick Flick".

Is left-handed. He drew the picture of Rose (Kate Winslet) in the movie Titanic (1997). The image was flipped so it would appear that Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) was drawing it with his right hand.

While editing Titanic (1997), Cameron had a razor blade taped to the side of the editing computer with the instructions written underneath: "Use only if film sucks!".

Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench on 25 March 2012, becoming the first person to do so in a one-man craft. The Mariana Trench is the deepest known point on Earth, at 11 km (6.8 miles) below the ocean surface. The vehicle in which he achieved this feat is the Deepsea Challenger (DCV 1), designed and built in Sydney, Australia by research and design company Acheron Project Pty Ltd. Cameron is the first person to spend significant time at that depth, having explored the area for three hours after arrival. He later famously commented "Hitting rock bottom never felt so good".

In 2010, his movie Avatar (2009) became the highest grossing movie of all time, not adjusted for inflation. It is also the first movie to gross the 2 billion dollar mark at the box office. Until Avatar (2009), Cameron's previous movie Titanic (1997) was the highest grossing movie of all time for 12 years (also not adjusted for inflation).

Cameron gave his friend Guillermo del Toro more than one million in cash to pay a ransom and have his father released after he was kidnapped in 1998.

Was forced to settle a copyright lawsuit brought by Harlan Ellison involving the movie Terminator (1984). Newer prints of the film acknowledge Ellison. Cameron thought he could win the suit, but was told by the studio that he would be made responsible for financial damages in case of a loss. Unable to take the financial risk, he begrudgingly agreed to the settlement..

He named his five favorite films as Le Magicien d'Oz (1939), Dr. Folamour ou : comment j'ai appris à ne plus m'en faire et à aimer la bombe (1964), 2001 : L'Odyssée de l'espace (1968), Le Parrain (1972) and Taxi Driver (1976).

First wife Sharon Williams got just $1,200 from Cameron in their divorce settlement.

First director to film both a $100 million (Terminator 2 : Le Jugement dernier (1991)) and a $200 million (Titanic (1997)) movie.

Insists that any actor in his films must audition for him, even major stars.

According to Cameron, he got his big break while doing pick-up shots for La Galaxie de la terreur (1981) as second unit director. He was shooting scenes of a dismembered arm teeming with maggots (actually mealworms). In order to make them move, he hooked up an AC power cord to the arm, and an unseen assistant would plug it in when the film was rolling. Two producers were strolling through, and when Cameron yelled "Action!" the worms began to writhe on cue. When he yelled "Cut!" the worms stopped. The producers were so amazed at his directing prowess that they began talking with him about bigger projects.

On the 14 March 2004 episode of Actors Studio (1994), Kate Winslet claimed her nude portrait for Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Titanic (1997) was drawn by Cameron. She also said the artist's hand shown in a close-up was Cameron's.

When he wrote an early script treatment for Spider-Man (2002), he had the idea of organic web-shooters. This was later included in Sam Raimi's film.

Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 18, 2009.

Received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2008. Says he's too cheap to pay for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

First director to make 2 films which have grossed more than $1 billion in the worldwide box office, with (Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009)). Three other directors have (as of 2024) since accomplished that feat: Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson and James Wan. Nolan, with The Dark Knight : Le Chevalier noir (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Jackson, with Le Seigneur des anneaux : Le Retour du roi (2003) and Le Hobbit : Un Voyage Inattendu (2012) and Wan with Fast & Furious 7 (2015) and Aquaman (2018).

Is close friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Guillermo del Toro, and with Bill Paxton (until his passing in 2017).

Not only did he try to make a Spider-Man film, he also tried to make an X-Men movie with his fellow filmmaker and his then wife Kathryn Bigelow.

The renowned Swiss company ROLEX customized a special watch for Cameron (to be "worn" on the sub's robotic arm) aptly named the "Rolex DeepSea Challenge Sea-Dweller" (39370ft=12000m) to commemorate his landmark oceanic expedition in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, a trench that is significantly deeper than Mount Everest is high. The watch was designed to withstand up to 13.6 tons of pressure and functioned perfectly throughout the dive. (mars 2012)

Is a huge Japanese anime fan, and the releasing studios often uses his opinion about the film on the DVD and VHS covers.

Was interested in remaking La planète des singes (1968), but his script was turned down. Another script was then developed and eventually made by Tim Burton in 2001.

Apart from Piranha 2 : Les Tueurs volants (1982) and Terminator (1984), all of his films have been nominated for or won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

The mandibles of the Predator from Predator (1987) were his idea.

Was an avid reader of Arthur C. Clarke, A.E. van Vogt, Harlan Ellison and Larry Niven novels as a child.

His production company is Lightstorm Entertainment.

Cameron is in talks with RKK Energia and MirCorp to pay his way on board the Mir space station (or the ISS, should Mir be deorbited). He has been given the medical green light, and has already ridden aboard the Ilushin-76 jet used to train cosmonauts for space missions. (septembre 2000)

Despite his reputation for working constantly and for very long hours, he stopped drinking caffeinated coffee after he made Terminator 2 : Le Jugement dernier (1991) and only drinks decaf now.

Wrote a screenplay for Spider-Man (2002), but was turned down by the studios, due to the fact that his version of Spider-Man was "too violent". Sam Raimi's version got the green light instead.

In an interview with Tavis Smiley, revealed that he was a truck driver before going into film directing.

Although he has lived in the United States since 1971, he has never become a U.S. Citizen.

Has a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron, with Linda Hamilton (born 15 February 1993).

2007 - Ranked #3 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.

One of the founders of visual effects company Digital Domain.

Three of his films have made it to the IMDb top 250 list: Terminator (1984), Terminator 2 : Le Jugement dernier (1991), and Aliens, le retour (1986). Avatar (2009) briefly made the list, but ultimately dropped out of it.

The October 1987 draft of the screenplay for Futur immédiat, Los Angeles 1991 (1988) credits a rewrite to James Cameron. He is not credited in the final film.

Has directed 3 actresses in Oscar-nominated performances: Sigourney Weaver (Best Actress, Aliens, le retour (1986)), Kate Winslet (Best Actress, Titanic (1997)), and Gloria Stuart (Best Supporting Actress, Titanic (1997)).

Did uncredited voice overs for Terminator (1984) (as Sarah Connor's (Linda Hamilton) date on the answering machine) and True Lies : Le Caméléon (1994) as the helicopter pilot who flatly says, "he's got her head in his lap. Yahoo.".

He's a big fan of Zack Snyder, whose films he has praised as an inspiration for some of his own work.

He has had 6 of his films win the Oscar for Visual Effects: Aliens, le retour (1986), Abyss (1989), Terminator 2 : Le Jugement dernier (1991), Titanic (1997), Avatar (2009), and Avatar : La Voie de l'eau (2022).

Considered directing Solaris (2002), but opted to produce instead. Job went to Steven Soderbergh.

(May 10, 2010) Merited a place in Time magazine's - The 100 Most Influential People in the World ("Artists" category) - with an homage penned by Sigourney Weaver.

Member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE).

Directed three of the American Film Institute's 100 Most Heart Pounding Movies: Titanic (1997) at #25, Terminator (1984) at #42 and Terminator 2 : Le Jugement dernier (1991) at #77. Aliens, le retour (1986) was also nominated but didn't make the list.

He has directed three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Terminator (1984), Terminator 2 : Le Jugement dernier (1991) and Titanic (1997).

He and Suzy Amis are owners of Childspot!, an early childhood center in Wichita, Kansas which is operated by Suzy's sister, Rebecca Amis.

Has developed a new generation stereo imaging camera called "The Fusion Camera".