The tragic loss of Bill Paxton back in February, at the age of just 61 still feels wrong and unfair. He died following complications from surgery, and left us with a terrific body of work. Four of the films he made were with James Cameron, and in a new interview, the filmmaker has been paying tribute to his lost friend.
“We became fast friends in 1981, I think, when we were both working for Roger Corman”, Cameron recalled. “And we were friends until – I don’t want to say the day he died – but the night before he went in for the surgery that went wrong, I talked to him that night. So, yeah, he’s just a dear, dear friend, and a great artist”.
“He was unique, you know, certainly broke the mold”, Cameron added. “He had a real… it was just a zest for life and creativity; he was always thinking about the next project and the next project. And he had this amazing ability to just get people to want to do the thing that he wanted to do, the thing that he wanted to make”.
“But, when he worked for me as an actor, he — although he brought so many ideas that enriched the film around his character — he also was there to do his character. He wasn’t there to try to direct my movie”.
The full interview with Cameron can be found at Yahoo, here.