James Cameron has revealed the reason he moved to New Zealand with his family. In a recent interview, the Avatar director talked about finding “sanity” in the island nation and what made him fall in love with life there.
James Cameron on why he moved to New Zealand
During a recent appearance on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, James Cameron opened up about his decision to leave the US for New Zealand. The Oscar-winning director and his family permanently shifted to the country following the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Bensinger noted how “stunningly beautiful” New Zealand is, Cameron clarified, “I’m not there for scenery, I’m there for the sanity.” The Titanic director then explained why he wanted to live in New Zealand.
“I went to New Zealand for the first time in ’94,” Cameron shared. The director shared that he was en route to the South Pole but had to stop at New Zealand due to harsh weather conditions. After exploring the Christ Church area, Cameron said he fell “in love with the country, the scenery, the people, just kind of the way of life there.”
Cameron added, “And I made myself a promise. I’m going to come live here someday.” The director shared that his wife, actress Suzy Amis Cameron, was also on board with the idea. “When Suzy and I were first getting serious, she said, ‘Fine, no problem.’ She was game,” he said.
“Now, later, we have children, we have a family, we’ve got roots in Malibu and Santa Barbara, that conversation had to be amended slightly, but we did say after Avatar, let’s make this happen,” the filmmaker added.
After years of “going back and forth” between the US and New Zealand, Cameron ultimately decided to relocate permanently after the 2020 pandemic. “New Zealand had eliminated the virus completely. They actually eliminated the virus twice. The third time when it showed up in a mutated form, it broke through,” he said.
“But fortunately, they already had a 98% vaccination rate. This is why I love New Zealand. People there are, for the most part, sane as opposed to the United States, where you had a 62% vaccination rate, and that’s going down – going the wrong direction,” Cameron added.
