James Cameron recently opened up about a spine-chilling task he was assigned on the first day of Battle Beyond the Stars.
During an interview on In Depth With Graham Bensinger, the 71-year-old Canadian filmmaker and deep-sea explorer revealed that his career kicked off with an unexpected challenge.
Reminiscing about the early days of his career, Cameron shared he secured a job as a production designer for the 1980 sci-fi film Battle Beyond the Stars after the erstwhile production designer was fired. On the very first day of his job, the production manager briefed him about his responsibilities.
The director of Titanic recalled, "He says, 'Okay, here's your petty cash voucher.’ And here's this and here's that, and here's your swing shift crew list. Here's your day shift crew list. Okay, here's your black beauties. Here's your coke.' And he's just putting all this stuff out on the table."
"I'm like, 'Wait a minute, what do I do with this stuff?' he recounted, adding, "I mean, I didn't take drugs. You know, for me, coffee was plenty."
"He said, 'Well, you got to give it out to the crew.’ I'm like, so I just became a dealer, I guess? You know, but that was just how things were done in that super low-budget world. You know, 'will work for coke,' basically. And that was pretty nuts,” Cameron explained.
It is pertinent to note that the Academy Award-winning director has several hit movies to his credit, such as Titanic, The Abyss, The Terminator, True Lies, Avatar, and Aliens.