Having been born in Canada, James Cameron may not have had much stock in America to begin with, but nowadays, he’s ready to turn his back on it completely. While giving a recent interview with New Zealand podcast “The F#$%ING News,” Cameron shared that he’s currently working toward citizenship in that country, as he spends most of his time there working on his “Avatar” series with Wētā FX, which is located in the city of Wellington.
“It’s imminent,” Cameron said of his naturalization. “I’ve already qualified in terms of timing in the country, I’ve put in my application — I’m told it’s imminent.”
Prior to 2020, Cameron split his time between Malibu, California and NZ, but has worked toward the latter being his family’s permanent home over the last few years. In terms of why Cameron feels ready to officially become a Kiwi, it’s in no small part due to the rising tide of fascism present in America today.
“I see a turn away from everything decent,” Cameron said. “America doesn’t stand for anything if it doesn’t stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they’re hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit.”
While he doesn’t think moving to New Zealand will make him “any safer” necessarily, he does appreciate being in a country that isn’t constantly inundated with the “sickening” news brought on by Donald Trump.
“There’s something nice about the New Zealand outlets — at least they’ll put it on page three,” said Cameron. “I just don’t want to see that guy’s face any more on the front page of the paper. It’s inescapable there, it’s like watching a car crash over and over and over.”
As a celebrity and near-billionaire, many might think Cameron has a leg up in terms of seeking out this citizenship, but he doesn’t see it that way. In fact, because his work takes him all over the world, the process of staying in New Zealand long enough to meet certain quotas was a big “sacrifice” for him.
“You can imagine in my kind of work, it’s global work,” Cameron told “The F#$%ing News.” “I’m everywhere for marketing and we’ve got people working in LA, and I’ve had to limit my travel and focus on [my citizenship in New Zealand]. And my wife’s going through the the same thing, she’s only a few months behind me.”
Pointing also to the work he’s done to establish himself and his business in the country, Cameron added, “It means a lot to us because I think if you’re going to uproot your family and you’re going to move somewhere, you have to invest. You have to to be part of it. You have to earn standing and I’ve tried to do that since I’ve been here even as a resident, to give back through our attempts to run apprenticeship programs and things like that on our productions.”
Watch Cameron’s full interview on “The F#$%ing News” below.
