James Cameron's pants were falling down as he accepted Titanic Oscars after tailor ghosted him
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Like an iceberg crossing paths with the Titanic, a rogue tailor nearly spelled disaster for James Cameron's pants at the 1998 Oscars — but the director vowed that he'd never let go of his trousers that night.
The Avatar: The Way of Water helmer revealed in a new interview that a pair of wardrobe malfunctions plagued him and his then-wife, Linda Hamilton, at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, where he won Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture for his work on 1997's Titanic.
"The strap on Linda's dress broke, so I'm trying to hold up the back where the strap broke," Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter. "And my tux came together at the very last second. The tailor was supposed to meet us at the Four Seasons before we went over to the Oscars. The guy never showed up, and my pants are three inches too big. So with one hand, I'm holding up my pants, and with the other, I'm holding up Linda's dress. That was our entire fricking evening."
Steve Granitz/WireImage Linda Hamilton and James Cameron at the 1998 Oscars
He said he was shocked when he won his first award of the evening for Best Editing, and realized that his pants were going to be an issue as he made his way to the stage.
"When they called my name for the first time, which was for Editing, I'm like, 'Oh, s---. I've got to get up in front of whatever, a billion people, and I'm holding my pants up,'" he recalled. "Try to remember your speech in the middle of that!"
Luckily, his pants quickly became an afterthought. In addition to becoming the highest-grossing film in history at the time of the ceremony, Titanic won an impressive 11 Oscars, atop acting nominations for Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart.
The 2023 Oscars — where Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water is nominated for Best Picture — will air Sunday on ABC.
Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights leading up to all the major award shows.
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