Eric Braeden was initially unimpressed with the script and the filmmaker.

Titanic actor originally wanted no part of movie: ‘I don’t give a s‑‑‑ about James Cameron’

Eric Braeden was initially unimpressed with the script and the filmmaker.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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May 4, 2026 6:36 p.m. ET

Eric Braeden in 'Titanic'. Credit:

- Eric Braeden initially didn't want to audition for James Cameron's mega-blockbuster *Titanic*.

- The actor eventually did so, only to leave after a "bulls‑‑‑" meeting.

- In the end, Cameron was a fan of Braeden's past work, scoring the soap star the role of John Jacob Astor IV.

Eric Braeden almost made a titanic career mistake.

The *Young and the Restless* legend starred in the 1997 mega-blockbuster *Titanic* as John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthiest man on the doomed ship. But the actor, now 85, initially wasn't interested in the "not big" role and passed on the chance to audition.

"I didn't want to do it," he recently recalled on the *Still Here Hollywood* podcast. "I said, 'I don't give a s‑‑‑ about James Cameron. I don't know him.'"

But Braeden's son, Christian Gudegast, kept pushing him to go out for the film, believing he needed to work with Cameron. Fast-forward a couple decades, and Gudagest is a noted filmmaker in his own right, having written and directed the two *Den of Thieves* installments.

Eric Braeden; James Cameron.

JC Olivera/Variety via Getty; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Braeden kid's insistence led him to head over to Warner Bros. for a meeting with an "arrogant" casting director who he said kept him waiting and then asked what he was doing there. "I said, 'I just asked myself the same question,'" the actor recalled, adding that he proceeded to walk out. “I called the agency, 'Don't ever, ever, ever send me to some bulls‑‑‑ like that again.'"

A month later, Braeden said he received a call saying Cameron "really wants" to see him. Upon reading more about the real Astor, Braden decided it was an "interesting" character, and so he returned for another casting call. He was shocked that they had him read just two lines, but it turned out that was more than enough.

"It was totally unnecessary to do this [because] James Cameron was a big fan of *Colossus*," Braeden revealed, referring to his 1970 sci-fi thriller. (** has reached out to Cameron for comment.)

'Titanic' cast: Where are they now?

James Cameron addresses Titan submersible tragedy

With Cameron's fandom earning Braeden the role, a deal was worked out with *Young and the Restless* to give him time to film on *Titanic*, though he still "couldn't be in a number of scenes" because of the overlapping shooting schedules.

In the film, Astor is introduced to Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) by Rose (Kate Winslet) in the first-class dining saloon, and asks if the young man is a member of the distinguished Dawson family of Boston, not knowing that Jack is an orphan from Wisconsin. Astor doesn't make it off the boat, with the character last seen as water surges through the Grand Staircase.

"I'm glad I did [*Titanic*] in retrospect because I have enormous respect for James Cameron," Braeden said. "If I've ever met a person who I would call a genius without any hesitation, he is that person."

Watch Braeden on *Still Here Hollywood* above.

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