“There’s a chemistry about them”: the actors James Cameron called totally vulgar
Often working against low audience expectations before a new project, James Cameron has made an entire career out of hedging his bets on his big-budget mega-productions that always seem to break box office records. He proved that once again with the sequel to Avatar, which took no time in becoming one of the highest-grossing movies in the history of the medium.
Despite being currently involved with the development of further instalments to the Avatar franchise that will improve on the technical advancements that Cameron has already made, most of the attention on his work is focused on his past efforts. That’s definitely not surprising, considering his filmography contains classics such as The Terminator and Titanic.
Throughout his illustrious career, Cameron has been primarily praised for his incorporation of cutting-edge special effects that elevate his directorial vision. However, one of his movies that doesn’t get mentioned enough in the same conversation is the 1994 action comedy True Lies, which made great use of special effects while also becoming the first production to cross the $100million mark in budgetary allocations.
During a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, the Canadian filmmaker revealed that he was extremely obsessed with finessing realism through digital effects. This resulted in multiple reworks of shots, as well as additional segments that wouldn’t have been possible without the new technology at his disposal.
“I kept adding and adding shots,” Cameron revealed. “I added 40 shots. There are no limitations to what you can do. Only money. The really scary thing for me is that the technology is so good now that you can do anything, put anybody anywhere. The next time you see video evidence, don’t trust it. We can really do anything down at Digital Domain. The director is always God.”
While the special effects were undoubtedly among the major positives of True Lies, what made it really work was the interesting on-screen dynamic shared by the two leads, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, who knock it out of the park. According to Cameron, their rapport extended to behind-the-scenes antics as well, which only added to their fictional marriage.
When asked about his initial thoughts regarding the casting, Cameron admitted that he was apprehensive at first. He said: “I didn’t know how Jamie and Arnold would get along. Arnold loves to goose people when he first meets them. Jamie goosed right back, and they were off. There’s a chemistry about them together. They’re both totally vulgar.”
Looking back, he definitely made the right call because True Lies wouldn’t be the same without Schwarzenegger and Curtis’ hilarious exchanges that add flavour to some of the espionage-related anxiety that is inherent to the plot.
