After Four Divorces, James Cameron Explains Why Marriage Is a Learned Art

After decades of redefining blockbusters, James Cameron turns the lens on himself: at 71, he unpacks four divorces, the lessons fueling his lasting fifth marriage, and why he now treats marriage as a learned art that demands intention and patience.

James Cameron took a quick detour from the land of blue aliens to talk about something a lot messier: his own love life. On a new interview, the 71-year-old director laid out what he has learned across five marriages, and he was unusually blunt about what he got wrong before he finally got it right.

Where this came up

While promoting 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' on the 'In Depth with Graham Bensinger' podcast, Cameron didn’t wait for the awkward question. He went straight at it: how he sees marriage now vs. how he used to see it.

'Marriage is a learned art... You’re constantly learning about the other person. I think you have to make a pact with yourself to actively want to make them happy.'

The big swing: owning the past

Here’s the short version of his long story: he has been married five times, and he says the early ones were brief. As in, he framed it like four of them were under a year. His point wasn’t to tally the scorecard, though; it was to underline how much of marriage happens after the wedding, not at it. In his words, people put too much importance on the ceremony and not enough on the daily work that makes the relationship actually last.

The mindset shift

Cameron admitted he used to evaluate relationships like a project: as long as it felt rewarding, he was in. He even put it this plainly: 'As long as this is still worth it... I’ll be in it.' He says that approach failed, and relearning what commitment actually looks like took time, humility, and a lot of unglamorous effort. The practical takeaway he landed on: it’s not about what you think should make your partner happy, it’s about figuring out what actually does.

The part that stings a little

He didn’t blame the exes. He said it outright: he was the common denominator. On his marriage to Linda Hamilton, he said they loved each other but they just didn’t get along day to day. They stayed together for years even while they knew real life between them wasn’t working. It’s candid, and if you’ve followed his career, surprisingly personal.

Where he is now

Since 2000, Cameron has been married to Suzy Amis Cameron. They have three kids, and if you connect the dots from everything he said, this is the marriage where he applied the lessons: less grand gesture, more daily practice.

What he actually emphasized

• Marriage, in his view, is learned, not instinctive.
• He has been married five times; he emphasized how short those early marriages were (he even said four were under a year).
• People focus too much on weddings; the real work is the marriage that follows.
• Make a deliberate pact to figure out what truly makes your partner happy and act on that.
• His old metric was 'is this still worth it?' which he now says does not work.
• He accepted he was the throughline in the failed marriages, not the other way around.
• About Linda Hamilton: they loved each other, but day-to-day life together didn’t work, and they stayed together longer than they should have.
• Current status: married to Suzy Amis Cameron since 2000, with three children.

It’s not the kind of thing directors at his level usually spell out, but Cameron seems comfortable saying the quiet part out loud: the box office is easy to measure; a good marriage is iterative, intentional, and not something you nail on take one.