Eric Braeden was initially far from overboard about doing Titanic.
No Interest in Titanic
He insisted he “didn’t want to do” the 1997 romance-adventure flick from James Cameron, but his son, writer and director Christian Gudegast, 56, and his wife, Dale Russell, 84, told him he would be crazy not to work with the legendary filmmaker.
However, Eric, 85, revealed he stubbornly replied that he “don’t give a s*** about James Cameron. I don’t know him,” on the latest episode of the Still Here Hollywood with Steve Kmetko podcast.
Eric read the script for John Jacob Astor IV, a business magnate and real estate developer, thought to be one of the richest passengers on the doomed RMS Titanic, which sank in the Atlantic Ocean en route to New York from Southampton, England, in 1912.
The Casting Director
Although Eric “wasn’t interested” in the role because it “wasn’t big,” Christian and Dale badgered the movie star to meet the casting director.
Eric remembered, “I went to an interview at Warner Bros. When I go to a casting call, I expect them to be there on time. So, I was at 11.00 in the morning.”
The casting director was late, which triggered anger in Eric and led him to brand her “an arrogant b****,” and on arrival, she asked the entertainer, “What are you doing here?”
Before Eric walked out of the meeting, he replied, “‘I just asked myself the same question.’”
The Young and the Restless alum fumed to his agency, “Don’t ever, ever, ever send me to some bulls*** like that again.”
Second Chance
A month later, Eric got a call and was told James, 71, “would really love to see” him.
After finding out more about John Jacob Astor IV, Eric realized it was an “interesting” character, and returned to Warner Bros. for another casting call.
But he came face-to-face with that same “arrogant” casting director again.
Eric noted he did not know her name and would “never deal with her again” because she did not put him in a good mood when they first met.
The casting director got him to read “two lines” down the camera, which proved more than enough because James loved Eric in the 1970 sci-fi-thriller, Colossus: The Forbin Project.
Glad He Did It
And James’ fandom of Eric made the latter agree to star in Titanic as John Jacob Astor IV, adding, “I’m glad I did [Titanic] in retrospect because I have enormous respect for James Cameron.”
Eric said James is a person he “would call a genius without any hesitation.”
Although the pair finally struck a deal, Eric “couldn’t be in a number of scenes” due to shooting schedule conflicts.
Titanic received 14 Academy Awards and bagged 11 of them, including Best Picture, Director, and Best Music (Original Song) for My Heart Will Go On by 58-year-old singer Celine Dion.