James Cameron Says Marriage Is a 'Learned Art' After 4 Divorces: 'You Have to Work at It'
- - James Cameron Says Marriage Is a 'Learned Art' After 4 Divorces: 'You Have to Work at It'
Tommy McArdleJanuary 28, 2026 at 2:09 AM
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Avatar: Fire and Ash director James Cameron spoke to the growing pains he experienced through his first four marriages in a new interview
Cameron has been married to wife Suzy Amis Cameron since 2000; he was previously married to Sharon Williams, Gale Hurd, Kathryn Bigelow and Linda Hamilton
"I think you have to make a pact with yourself to actively want to make them happy," Cameron said, in part
James Cameron has been married five times, and to hear him tell it, he's learned how to make a marriage last along the way.
Cameron, 71, spoke about his relationship with wife Suzy Amis Cameron and his past marriages to Sharon Williams, Gale Hurd, Kathryn Bigelow and Linda Hamilton during his recent appearance on the In Depth with Graham Bensinger podcast as part of his press tour for Avatar: Fire and Ash. "Let's contextualize that. That's a fact, but let's look at the fact that I was also married four times for less than a year – actively married," he said, when interviewer Graham Bensinger noted that he has been married five times.
"There was always a little bit of a long sort of decay curve through separation and divorce, but actively married, cohabitating for one year, four times. So I wasn't very good at it," Cameron added. "And now I've been married happily and have earned that happiness, which you find out that you have to work at it for 25 years, and going strong and looking forward to the next 25 years. So, I think it's a learned art."
James and Suzy first met in 1997 when she appeared in his movie Titanic; the couple married in 2000 and share three children, in addition to Suzy's son Jasper Robards, whom she shares with ex Sam Robards, and James' eldest daughter Josephine Archer Cameron, whom he shares with ex Hamilton, 69.
Suzy Amis Cameron and James Cameon on Jan. 15, 2023
Kevin Winter/Getty
Cameron opined during the interview that he now believes that people should not hold large weddings and instead "put all that effort and energy into the work it takes to really be with somebody relationally for a long period of time."
"Because you're constantly learning about the other person. I think you have to make a pact with yourself to actively want to make them happy," he said. "Not your version of what should make them happy, but what actually makes them happy."
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"And that's a learned thing," The Terminator director continued. "Because earlier on, I was very, it was sort of like, conditional. ‘As long as you still love me, I'll love you.’ Right? Or, ‘As long as this is still worth it for both of us, or even just worth it for me, I'll be in it. But the second that's no longer the case, hasta la vista.’ And that doesn't work. And it took me a while to realize that."
James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron on Dec. 5, 2025
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty
When Bensinger asked Cameron what led him to have that realization, he noted that he has been "the common denominator" in each of his past divorces.
"Linda Hamilton and I hung on for a long time, long, long after we probably should have. We were together for seven years," the Oscar winner said. "And we loved each other, we just didn't get along, and when you realize that that's possible — that you can really love somebody but just not get along, not cohabitate, not coexist."
"I fall in love with people I can learn from. So I fall in love with somebody that I admired greatly. I admired Gale greatly. I admired Katherine greatly. I admired Linda greatly, but I think I didn't pre-select well enough for people that could stand me, that I could stand them. Everybody's got their habits and their ways," he concluded.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
