James Cameron has called out Amy Poehler’s “ignorant” joke about him at the Golden Globes, saying it went “too far”.
The Titanic director, whose new Avatar sequel is in cinemas now, was mocked by Poehler at the 2013 ceremony, when the filmmaker’s ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow was nominated for Zero Dark Thirty.
Poehler, addressing the controversy surrounding Zero Dark Thirty’s torture scenes, quipped: “When it comes to torture, I trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron.”
Cameron, who was married to Bigelow from 1989 to 1991, does not reflect on the joke positively, and in a new interview, said he was also left disappointed that his Hollywood peers found it funny.
“Amy Poehler’s remark was an ignorant dig at an event which is supposed to be a celebration of cinema and filmmakers, not a roast,” the 71-year-old told The New York Times.
“I’m pretty thick-skinned and happy to be the butt of a good-natured joke, but that went too far. The fact that people found it funny shows exactly what they think of me, even though they have no idea who I am or how I work.”
The Independent has contacted Poehler for comment.
Poehler’s joke alluded to Cameron’s reputation for being an exacting perfectionist. Titanic star Kate Winslet once claimed Cameron had “a temper like you wouldn’t believe”, while Avatar’s lead Sam Worthington said if a mobile phone went off, on set, “he’d nail it to the wall with a nailgun”.
Cameron himself has commented on his reputation, telling The Independent in 2013: “Would I nail a cellphone to the wall with a nailgun? Absolutely, if it went off in the middle of a take, but it doesn’t mean I would be emotionally enraged. I would do it in a calculated theatrical way. But when the story gets told later, it sounds like somebody who’s constantly off at the deep end.”
He also said that people would not continue to work with him if he were as bad as is reported. “The reality is passion for the work – the reality is that I have people who are very loyal to me and come back project after project, so I can’t be that bad.”
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Winslet is one such actor, having returned to work with Cameron on Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash.
However, Cameron did admit he used to play up to the “image of what a filmmaker was supposed to be”, stating: “I think when you couple that with the short temper that I had because of the short budgets that I had in my earlier productions”, he might have been “difficult”.
But he said his character has “evolved” and “there’s no room for that kind of behaviour.”
In 2009, Cameron and Bigelow were both in contention for Best Director Oscars for Avatar and The Hurt Locker, with Cameron telling The New York Times he was “a little concerned” the “meta-narrative” about their marriage would take away from Bigelow’s “credibility as a filmmaker”.
It started to turn into a conversation that wasn’t about her film, and that bothered both of us,” he said, but added that, when Bigelow eventually won, he “was the first one” on his feet applauding.
Three of Cameron’s films – Titanic, Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water – are among the top five highest-grossing films of all time. Avengers: Endgame and animated Chinese film Ne Zha 2 round out the list.
Cameron has been married to Suzy Amis Cameron since 2000.
