James Cameron has said that his New Zeland citizenship is “imminent” following Donald Trump’s return to the White House, calling the new administration “inescapable”.
The Canadian director, who is currently working in Avatar: Fire and Ash, told New Zealand’s Stuff publication that the move to the southern hemisphere is “something I’ve worked toward, something I’ve had to sacrifice for”.
Although Cameron has been making his new films in New Zealand, it appears that his move is also motivated by Trump’s election win in November.
“I see a turn away from everything decent,” the Oscar winner told Stuff. “America doesn’t stand for anything if it doesn’t stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they’re hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit.”
The 70-year-old added: “I don’t know if I feel any safer here, but I certainly feel like I don’t have to read about it on the front page every single day. And it’s just sickening.
“There’s something nice about the New Zealand outlets - at least they’ll put it on page three. I just don’t want to see that guy’s face anymore on the front page of the paper. It’s inescapable there, it’s like watching a car crash over and over and over.”
Cameron has criticised Trump in the past. Shortly after his first inauguration, the director suggested a Trump presidency was ultimately pushing us towards the tipping point of climate change.
“It’s basically the upside-down world right now, and the kind of dialogue coming out of these guys sounds like George Orwell,” he told the Daily Beast in 2017.
“Years ago, we sort of spotted the iceberg ahead of us and we called out the order to turn, and we’ve been slowly, slowly, slowly trying to turn this big-ass ship to not hit the iceberg, and then Trump grabbed the tiller and just plunged it right back at the centre of the iceberg,” he added.
Cameron had previously applied for American citizenship but withdrew his application after George W Bush won the 2004 US election, as per The New Yorker.
Cameron, who owns a farm in Wairarapa, stressed the importance of injecting some “young blood” into the New Zealand film industry.
“We’ve got to have the new people,” said Cameron. “I’m not talking just about writers and directors. I’m talking about the tradies, the craftspeople, the dolly grip, the crane grip. Those are all art forms in of themselves.”
The Terminator director previously announced that he plans to make all three Avatar sequels in New Zealand.
