Eric Braeden Nearly Passed on 'Titanic' Over Initial Skepticism of James Cameron

Eric Braeden came close to missing out on one of cinema's biggest hits. The 85-year-old Young and the Restless veteran, who played the affluent John Jacob Astor IV in Titanic (1997), disclosed during a recent appearance on the Still Here Hollywood podcast that he was initially reluctant about the opportunity.

"I didn't want to do it. I said, 'I don't give a s–t about James Cameron. I don't know him,'" Braeden recalled, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.

His son Christian Gudegast, now an accomplished filmmaker who has written and directed the Den of Thieves franchise, encouraged his father to pursue the role, believing that a collaboration with Cameron would prove valuable.

Braeden's first encounter with the casting process proved discouraging. He described meeting an "arrogant" casting director who left him waiting, prompting him to leave the audition. "I said, 'I just asked myself the same question,'" Braeden recounted, adding that he subsequently instructed his agency to avoid sending him to similar situations.

However, the trajectory shifted dramatically when Cameron reached out approximately a month later. After researching the historical figure he would portray, Braeden's curiosity was piqued, and he returned for another casting opportunity.

Braeden noted that Cameron's prior familiarity with his work made the director's interest particularly meaningful. "It was totally unnecessary to do this [because] James Cameron was a big fan of Colossus," he explained, referencing his 1970 science fiction film.

The experience ultimately transformed Braeden's perspective entirely. He expressed gratitude for accepting the role and emphasized his deep admiration for Cameron. "If I've ever met a person who I would call a genius without any hesitation, he is that person," Braeden concluded.