Hollywood’s Broken Prince (1)
The latter half of the Titanic shoot was absolute hell. Minor injuries were a dime a dozen, and hypothermia, colds, and flu swept through the cast and crew like a daily plague. Yet, James Cameron never stopped filming.
"Action!"
Today's shoot was incredibly critical. It was the sinking of the ship's interior, filmed with dozens of cameras divided across various zones. For the sake of realism, they had constructed a grand staircase using actual, expensive hardwood. The set, which had served so well for the high-society party scenes, was now being ruthlessly swept away by a colossal deluge of water in the final stages of production.
Some had opposed this.
"B-but if we keep it, couldn't we use it for something else? Like making a museum or something?"
"We're turning the movie itself into a museum! Let's make them feel the Titanic inside it!"
But the director, a perfectionist obsessed with detail, boldly chose to destroy it all.
WHOOOOOOSH!
A massive torrent of water poured in from the designated release points. Someone once described the scene like this: the exact moment 20th Century Fox's investment was being physically ground to dust by the very money they spent.
The passengers of the Titanic, panicked by the sinking ship, scrambled up the stairs to escape. In truth, the actors performing in that chaos were all genuinely panicking.
"F-fucking freezing!!"
"Don't mess up! Seriously, don't!"
"If someone ruins the take, we have to do this all over again?!"
Before filming began, James had told the extras, "Alright, everyone, don't be too nervous!" Of course, right before saying that, he had added, "Though we're completely out of budget, so if we mess up this scene, there's no going back." Naturally, the extras now hated James Cameron more than anyone else in the world.
The temperature of the incoming water was roughly 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Even with wetsuits worn under their clothes and life jackets, the biting cold was enough to make anyone swear. Amidst this, the water rushing into the set at a terrifying speed injured many actors and plunged them into hypothermia. It was a set that truly seemed to recreate the actual tragedy of the Titanic.
"..."
Rose stepped into the water, her body shivering violently. She was on her way to save Jack. Armed with a fire axe, she forged ahead and rescued Jack, who was handcuffed and on the verge of drowning. The two embraced in joy and scrambled toward the deck. And once the cameras stopped rolling for that scene:
"Haa... h-huuu..."
"Damn it, this is so fucking cold...!"
Wrapped in towels, Kate and Leo were deathly pale. Unlike the extras who could at least wear wetsuits, the two lead actors had to perform completely bare under their costumes, making their situation far worse. With the grueling shooting schedule, Kate was suffering from borderline pneumonia, and Leonardo sniffled constantly during breaks. Yet, neither actor uttered a single complaint. Their eyes burned with pure passion for their craft.
When James called them over to give directions, the only words he could offer were, "Hang in there just a bit longer. I know you probably want to die right now."
"...No."
Surprisingly, it was Kate who answered first, her voice firm.
"I won't die. Never."
No, she had answered as 'Rose'.
"..."
In that moment, James realized she was immersed deeper in this film than anyone else. When they first started the water shoots and she dipped her body in for a camera test, she had complained, "Ah, it's freezing! Is there any warm water?" But now, even while submerged in water far colder than before, battling a severe cold, she displayed a fierce, burning will to 'survive.'
James felt a lump in his throat. It was a sentiment shared by everyone on this set, where technology was being used to resurrect the past. The tragedy of the Titanic, perhaps the most famous maritime disaster in history. The crew was recreating that very event. Blending fiction and reality into a single drama, the desperate struggle of Jack and Rose evoked an inexplicable, profound sadness.
A maritime disaster of the past. Every single person caught in it would have had a life of their own. Yet, the ship that epitomized the pinnacle of technological achievement of its era was utterly powerless before nature. Just like the social classes humanity had constructed. And yet, humans clung to those constructs, helplessly swept away by them. And surely, there were those who could not let go of them, even in the face of death, the ultimate equalizer.
A first-class stateroom, already flooded to the floorboards. It was now time for Sion Lee, drenched from head to toe, to perform. Everyone waited in tense silence for him to finish his preparations.
James Cameron hadn't originally planned this scene. However, at Sion Lee's suggestion—"What do you think of an ending like this?"—he had specially spared one of the first-class staterooms, which was originally slated to be simply washed away, just for Sion's performance. For James Cameron, a man who could only be satisfied when everything went exactly according to his plan, this was an extraordinary exception. Yet, no one questioned it. They had all witnessed with their own eyes how crucial 'Cal', interpreted and created by Sion Lee, had become to this film.
Even Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who should have been resting, came down to watch Sion Lee's performance. As everyone held their breath, James had deliberately made it clear to Sion: "Act it out exactly as you envisioned. But remember, you only get one shot."
A single opportunity to perform on an astronomically expensive set. It was like life itself—singular, making it all the more desperate.
"Action."
At the director's cue, all equipment and crew members began to move in perfect, mechanical unison.
Cal panting heavily. Then, water began to pour through the gaps in the door. Staring blankly at the irresistible disaster for a moment, he stood up, grabbed a broken table leg, and tried to block the flow by any means necessary. But his desperate struggle, predictably, failed.
"Aaaaargh!"
He was the embodiment of the Titanic itself. Like the colossal ship built on technology advanced through chance and discovery, he was a man standing at the pinnacle of wealth amassed by human civilization. Yet, just as the ship was divided into third, second, and first class by human design, he too had merely inherited genes that had stepped over others throughout history, landing him in his position by sheer luck. In the original script, as the ship struck the iceberg and collapsed helplessly, Cal was supposed to escape by squeezing himself among the third-class passengers he so thoroughly despised. But Sion had proposed an ending more fitting for the character he had built: staying behind on the ship and sinking miserably into the watery depths. Just like the helplessly sinking Titanic.
"..."
Unable to hold back the pressure, the water flooded in rapidly. Finally, sitting down, he pressed the muzzle of his pistol to his temple, preparing to pull the trigger.
"...Urgh!"
But unable to bring himself to do it, he stood back up. Spewing endless rage, as if trying to fight back against the colossal disaster, he grabbed a shattered wooden plank to block the torrent. But when the godlike entity watching this scene from the outside signaled his messenger, the violent torrent finally shattered the door and burst in with brutal force.
Cal thrashed wildly in the raging torrent. Everyone felt a profound sense of awe toward Sion Lee for performing this scene himself without a stunt double. Struggling through the current, he managed to scramble onto the bed, where he stood and began to laugh like a madman. As the room filled, Cal's body slowly sank beneath the surface. In an instant, the water rose to his chin. Looking up at the ceiling, he muttered softly.
"Rose..."
His voice was chillingly quiet. Did he truly love Rose? Or did he yearn for and pursue her so relentlessly simply because she had been taken from him?
One second. Thirty seconds. One minute. Time stretched out, feeling like an eternity. It was a perilous situation where the actor could genuinely drown. Everyone watching prayed desperately for the director to call cut and rescue Sion Lee. Yet James stared silently at Sion, who had sunk beneath the water as if possessed. Soon, a hand reached up through a narrow gap and grabbed the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"Puh-haaa!"
The man's face burst back through the surface. A desperate cry of a mere 'human' facing the ultimate equalizer of death, stripped of his title as an 'heir to wealth.'
"Save me...!"
In the end, his body was sucked back down into the water.
"Cut!!"
The director yelled, goosebumps erupting all over his body, and the standby safety divers immediately plunged in to rescue Sion. Sion, barely rescued with a regulator shoved into his mouth, coughed and retched repeatedly as he was pulled out of the water. The surrounding staff began to applaud.
"Whoa, seriously...!"
"That was incredible, Sion!"
"A-are you okay?! How could you go that far...!"
No one dared to even touch the actor who had immersed himself so deeply in his performance, risking his very life. The set's resident doctor rushed over to check his breathing and ensure there were no complications, but Sion waved him off, collapsed onto the floor, and laughed in disbelief.
"...Wow, seriously."
Before long, James Cameron knelt beside Sion with a worried expression.
"I thought I was going to fucking die."
But that was precisely why his performance captivated everyone's hearts.
Sion's scenes were officially wrapped that day. James Cameron, usually a strict professional who only focused on work on set, uncharacteristically suggested an impromptu wrap party with warm cocoa for the exhausted extras and crew. Except for a few who had to head back and rest due to poor health, almost everyone stayed. As dusk fell, they lit a campfire in front of the life-sized Titanic replica, warming themselves and enjoying their cocoa. Sion, also feeling a touch of bittersweet nostalgia knowing today was his last day on the Titanic set, mingled with the crowd and sipped his cocoa. As the sky grew dark, James approached him.
"This is all because of you, Sion Lee."
"...What is? This wrap party?"
"Yes. If today wasn't your last day, I would never have done this. Personally, I'd rather get an extra hour of sleep to recharge my batteries than spend time bonding like this. But I figured, why not just for today? Especially for the actor who elevated this film to a whole new level."
"If this is a Sion Lee tribute, shouldn't you be handing out bottles of tequila instead of cocoa? Everyone got soaked in freezing water today, even more than I did."
"Alcohol doesn't actually warm the body. It just dilates the blood vessels in your skin, causing a temporary rise in temperature that your brain only perceives as warmth because it's being dulled."
"Is that so? Damn. I spiked my cocoa with tequila for nothing, then."
"...?"
"Still, since it's my last day, care for a splash, Director?"
When Sion slyly offered a hip flask filled with tequila, the director's eyes widened.
"How did you smuggle that onto the set?"
"I swiped it from the Titanic before it sank. It was a place where people gathered, after all, so surely a bottle or two of booze must have been smuggled aboard."
As Sion playfully insisted, James reluctantly took the flask and poured some into his cocoa. Then, he offered a toast.
"To the Titanic."
"To the Titanic."
Their cups clinked, and the Titanic built for the film gleamed, reflecting the moonlight on the water's surface.
After enjoying a drink with James for a while, Sion met the film's two leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who had waited around instead of heading home just to say goodbye to him. Kate, who had been somewhat distant and intimidated by his presence early in the shoot, now stepped forward warmly and naturally linked her arm with Sion's.
"Sion, you worked so hard."
"Ah, here. Have some tequila first."
"Tequila in cocoa? ...Oh, wait, this is actually pretty good."
Though initially skeptical, Kate's face quickly flushed red after taking a sip of the mixture.
"Thank you so much for everything. I learned a great deal as an actress thanks to you."
"Come on, what did you learn from me? How to smuggle alcohol onto set when you want a drink after filming?"
"Pfft, hahaha! I definitely learned that!"
Unlike the brightly laughing Kate, Leo seemed hesitant, as if he had something on his mind. As the filming of Titanic neared its final stages, there had been a noticeable shift in his expressions and demeanor. And the man who was the catalyst for that change was about to leave the set.
"What's wrong, Leo? Sad to see me go?"
"...Yes. Honestly, yes. I wanted to learn more from you."
"Hey, what's with the long faces? Come over to my place once filming wraps. We can down a can of Whipped Cream Spray together. Everyone lost so much weight from all the suffering on this shoot."
"...? Whipped cream?"
"Ah, beer would probably be more constructive."
Sion tried to deflect the heavy atmosphere with light jokes. But Leo, thinking this would be their last meeting for a while, finally spoke from the heart.
"Do you remember River? River Phoenix."
At those words, even Sion couldn't help but stiffen. River Phoenix. Before Sion Lee, he was the next-generation Hollywood star who had captured the media's spotlight, only to pass away at a young age in 1993 due to a drug overdose. A young Leonardo DiCaprio had always looked up to him as a role model. He had sincerely hoped to work with him one day. But after River's sudden death shortly after they briefly crossed paths at a party, Leo thought he would never be able to fulfill that dream...
"But now, I feel like I finally have an actor to chase after again."
"...Hmm."
Sion took a sip of his spiked cocoa, pondered for a moment, and then offered a playful grin. True to his nature of avoiding overly serious personal dynamics, he returned a witty, meaningful reply with a lighthearted touch.
"If it looks like you're about to overtake me, I might have to grab you by the hair."
And so, the night passed, marking the completion of a masterpiece and the solid forging of powerful connections.
October 7, 1996.
The moment Sion returned after three months of filming in Mexico, his personal trainer gasped in horror, looking as if he were the one drowning.
"What on earth did you do to lose this much weight?!"
"...Swam. A fucking lot of it."
Toward the end of the shoot, he had to spend almost the entire day in freezing water, leaving his body battered and bruised. This was despite the fact that his character, Cal, wasn't even supposed to be in the water that much. Once again, Sion was reminded of the Hollywood adage: "To make a great movie, you must endure great suffering."
"This won't do! Starting today, we're back to training...!"
"Let me rest a bit. If you don't let me, you're fired."
"...How long would you like to rest, valued client?"
After sending home the trainer, who quickly fell in line at the mention of money, Sion collapsed onto the sofa without even thinking of unpacking and turned on the television. True to his persona as someone who had suffered psychological trauma from his parents' deaths, he first greeted his parents in the framed photo beside the sofa, saying he was back, and then checked the entertainment news broadcasting on the screen.
"...Huh?"
His eyes widened.
"...Me? Prince of which kingdom? Mexico?"
While he was busy filming in Mexico, he had somehow become a prince in Hollywood.