When James Cameron almost bludgeoned Harvey Weinstein with an Oscar: “It was self-defence”
It’s not all that unusual for well-known filmmakers to be friends with one another, such that, while Guillermo del Toro has often been cited as a member of the ‘three amigos’ that includes fellow Mexican directors Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón, he has also developed a strong dynamic with James Cameron.
The two also have much in common, wherein Cameron changed the way the industry looks at computer-generated imagery with the way he utilised special effects in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the Avatar franchise, and del Toro is known for developing incredible makeup work for Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy films.
This long-standing relationship is not just based on mutual respect for each other’s work, which makes sense when considering they are both highly stylised, visually-driven filmmakers who like developing imaginative worlds, and also understand the importance of intricately designed worldbuilding, but Cameron has also actively defended del Toro, looking out for him, even when it has meant standing up to elite Hollywood bullies.
The Canadian filmmaker has leveraged his power within the industry to help out del Toro on more than one occasion, such as when the latter’s father was kidnapped in 1997, and he helped to negotiate and pay the ransom to set him free. However, the incident may have been at the top of his mind a few months later at the Academy Awards, in which Titanic set a record with 11 wins, including personal victories for Cameron in the categories of ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
While it was one of the biggest nights of his career, it also meant that he had to run into Harvey Weinstein, who had executively produced the fellow ‘Best Picture’ nominee Good Will Hunting. Cameron had remembered an incident in which Weinstein and his brother bullied del Toro throughout the production of his horror film Mimic, and nearly had him fired; although del Toro was eventually allowed to resume production and complete the film, the version released in theatres had been cut down brutally by Weinstein, who disliked the original concept.
It was a dark chapter in the Mexican filmmaker’s career in which he learned of how difficult it could be to work with major studios, but Cameron has always been someone who has stood up for a director’s right to make creative decisions.
Thus, he was so infuriated by the way that Weinstein had treated del Toro that he nearly used his new Oscars to attack him on the night of the ceremony, even if he would later claim to The New York Times that “it was self-defence”.
It would unfortunately be far too long before Weinstein ever had to face any serious consequences for his history of abuse, but Cameron and del Toro both experienced a surge of luck in the immediate aftermath. Cameron spent many years working on aquatic documentaries as he developed the Avatar franchise, and del Toro earned his biggest commercial success yet when he returned to his native country of Mexico to make the horror film The Devil’s Backbone.
The friendship between the two men is still strong, and both got to experience career highlights within the last year, as Cameron was able to close out the first chapter of his epic science fiction saga with Avatar: Fire and Ash, and del Toro finally made his passion project Frankenstein, for Netflix.
