How Avatar: The Way Of Water Forced James Cameron To Finally Chill Out

There is a stereotype about successful directors also being tyrants on set, that they command their productions like old-time army generals, ruling with an iron fist and shutting down any attempt at questioning commands. Directors like Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock were notorious for their perfectionism that verged on dictatorship. Likewise, James "never bet against him" Cameron is also notorious for having a bit of a temper, going so far as to acknowledge that he's been a "tinpot dictator" on set.

Cameron's demands for not just perfectionism, but to achieve the impossible on each of his movies, time and time again defying the odds, the budgets, and the technological restraints to deliver the highest-grossing films of all time several times can lead to sets being turned into battlegrounds. There was the time when Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio stormed off the set of "The Abyss" shouting "We are not animals!" due to Cameron's rigorous directing, or how Ed Harris nearly died making that movie.

It seems, however, that Cameron finally learned to chill out, and it was all thanks to the way of water — as in literally the movie "The Way of Water." In the new documentary "Fire and Water: Making the Avatar Films," Cameron talks about the hard training the cast had to go through in order to hold their breath long enough to film underwater. Before they dive for each take, Cameron would do a countdown on a PA system while being at his most zen, because if he doesn't, it literally would ruin the take.

"You gotta be very, very calm," Cameron said in the Disney+ documentary. "Any kind of tension will cause the heart rate to speed up, so I keep my voice very soothing, and I get everybody underwater."

That's right, if Cameron went back to his "tinpot dictator" ways, the actors would lose oxygen and no longer be able to get the shot.

"The Way of Water" is truly a miracle of a movie, as the cast and crew pushed the absolute limits of what is possible. It isn't just that the cast is holding their breath while they do each shot, it's the fact that they can only film for about two minutes (three tops, according to Cameron). That's because, even if actors like Kate Winslet broke records for holding their breath underwater, standing still is not the same as swimming around and doing physical things underwater. So with just a couple of minutes available for each shot, Cameron definitely wanted to keep his zen to ensure he didn't ruin a take because of his behavior.

This stands in contrast with James Cameron's experience making the first "Avatar," when the director's infamous ire reportedly resurfaced, specifically toward those who forgot to silence their phones on set. That's right, Cameron even admitted (with a healthy dose of humor) that he'd "nail a cellphone to the wall with a nailgun" if it went off in the middle of a take, which is rather fair to be perfectly honest.