After Ridley Scott introduced warrant officer Ellen Ripley in the 1979 film Alien, James Cameron took charge to continue her story in the sequel, Aliens. Based decades after the events of the first film, it follows Ripley returning to LV-426 with a marines unit after communication is lost with a human colony on the Moon.
While the sequel turned out to be pretty great, tensions ran high behind the scenes as one of the cast members almost had a falling out with the Oscar-winning filmmaker due to his uncompromising pursuit of perfectionism.
Aliens Star Opened Up About Working With James Cameron
Filmmaker James Cameron is known for his perfectionism, a trait that has become a defining characteristic of his filmmaking style. From exploring the depths of the ocean to pioneering cutting-edge technology for his films, Cameron has done it all. However, his pursuit of perfection sometimes causes trouble for people working with him.
In the Netflix documentary The Movies That Made Us, Aliens’ special effects supervisor John Richardson called the filmmaker a “very hard taskmaster.” He shared that his perfectionism made the job a bit harder sometimes.
However, it was not limited to the crew only, as actor William Hope, who played the role of Lieutenant Gorman, was also getting frustrated with his behavior on the set. “I used to rehearse in my mind taking Jim out, actually knocking him f*cking flat,” he said before adding, “Because of the sh*t he was giving me.”
Tensions only grew between the filmmaker and crew over time. And things took a turn for the worse when Cameron and the film’s producer, Gale Anne Hurd, decided to fire assistant director Derek Cracknell, and the Pinewood crew also stopped working in protest.
James Cameron Apologized to His Cast And Crew
After the production saw a halt, the star of the movie, Sigourney Weaver, stepped in to speak up for the crew. Once she talked to James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, the filmmaker addressed the crew. William Hope recalled how the filmmaker told everyone that they would have to pick up the speed as they were behind schedule.
The Aliens actor also shared that Cameron acknowledged his fault for pushing people too hard, as he apologized to everyone. The crew and the filmmaker were finally able to agree on working conditions, where he asked for efficiency, and the crew asked to be supported for their scheduled working hours. The relationship between the filmmaker and crew remained on a positive note until the filming concluded.
Aliens is available on Max.
