James Cameron thinks he’s a better filmmaker for having life experiences.
The ‘Avatar’ director didn’t make his debut movie, ‘Terminator’, until he was 30 and though he worried he’d left it too late, he’s now thankful he didn’t jump straight into the industry as he thinks being a truck driver helped him hone his ear for convincing dialogue.
He said: "I was kind of late to the party because the Steven Spielbergs of the world are usually in the saddle ad making their first feature in their early 20s.
"I was 30 when we did ‘The Terminator’. On the one hand, I wish I had done that earlier, but on the other hand, I think whatever path it was, it worked out.
"I needed to just experience day-to-day life as a blue-collar guy, train my ear to the sound of dialogue and I think my writing is more realistic as a result of that."
And the 63-year-old filmmaker thinks it can be a huge "mistake" to simply jump from studying movies to forging a career from it.
He added: "I think there is a mistake of coming straight out of film school when you have experienced nothing but film because anything that you have to say is going to be a reference to a film that someone else has made.
"I do think there’s something to be said for going out and living life and having some experience of it first before you start to comment on it."
After years in the movie industry, James is just as passionate about his profession as ever.
He told SciFiNow magazine: "You can’t stop me from creating new stuff because I just love it.
"I love it now as much as I loved it when I was in third grade doing little drawings after I’d just seen Ray Harryhausen’s ‘Mysterious Island’ the previous day and I promptly started my own comic book.
"You take something in, it inspires you and then, if you’re an artist, you have to react and you have to do something. I don’t intend to stop doing that."
James Cameron grateful for experiences
