The near-death experiences on the set of James Cameron movie ‘The Abyss’
James Cameron movies nearly always require mass-scale technological innovation to achieve their aims. His big-budget blockbusters, such as The Terminator, Aliens and Avatar, all pushed the boundaries of technology.
Another of his projects with a heavy reliance on physical spectacle is 1989’s The Abyss, which told of a Navy Seal team’s mission to salvage a mysteriously sunken nuclear submarine. As with many of Cameron’s films, The Abyss’ story left a lot to be desired, though visually, it was astonishing.
However, this meant that the crew and cast would go through hell and back to make the move. Around 40 per cent of the principal photography took place underwater, so the cast and crew had to train in diving in the Cayman Islands for a week before shooting.
Cameron also had specialist equipment designed so he could communicate with the cast whilst filming. Control over the water was also required, so filming took place in a tank rather than in the sea. This led to several dangerous scenarios, including Ed Harris having to hold his breath in a helmet full of water as he was dragged through the tank.
Cameron himself also had a close shave with death. The director had been at the bottom of the set’s tank, and the assistant director, who had been in charge of monitoring the oxygen levels, was suddenly on break. Cameron, knowing he needed to get air, started to panic.
He removed his clothing and diving apparatus, including the helmet, and tried to surface. A fellow diver offered him some spare breathing equipment, but it turned out to be faulty. Cameron ingested a lot of water, and, struggling, the assistant diver grabbed onto this, thinking he was distressed. However, Cameron punched him in the face to get free and eventually made it to safety.
The filming stress also proved too much for Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who had a breakdown on set. Ed Harris also admitted to bursting into tears on a drive home. He said: “We were guinea pigs, in a way; Jim wasn’t quite sure how this was all gonna go down.”
He added: “[I was] screaming at [Mastratonio] to come back and wake up, and I was slapping her across the face, and I see that they’ve run out of film in the camera — there’s a light on the camera — and nobody had said anything. And Mary Elizabeth stood up and said, ‘We are not animals!’ and walked off the set. They were going to let me just keep slapping her around!”
