JAMES CAMERON CAN tell a story. Even an anecdote gets the epic treatment. Mention the myth of the tea lady who provoked him to dent an urn in exasperation on the Pinewood set of Aliens in 1985, and his eyes light up.
“Ah, the tea lady,” he smiles. “I have thought many times of tracking her down.” From there, he launches into a detailed account that features sticky buns travelling at speed. At last, he sighs. “She was just caught at that tectonic interface between these two cultures, right?”
Over 18 months and nearly 30 interviews with cast, crew and experts, I have gained an intimate understanding of what it took to make Aliens. But the director came nerve-rackingly late in the mix. It took months of negotiation to prise him free from Avatar 3.