Who Is James Cameron's Wife? All About Suzy Amis Cameron (and Why the UpcomingAvatarMade Her Cry)

Mar. 15, 2025

Suzy Amis Cameron and James Cameron attend the James Cameron and Jon Landau Hand and Footprint Cement Ceremony on January 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.Photo:Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

No one is a bigger fan ofJames Cameron’s work than his wife, actressSuzy Amis Cameron.

When theOscar-winningfilmmaker showed her the upcoming third installment of hisAvatarfranchise,Avatar: Fire and Ash, he said she “bawled for four hours.”

“She kept trying to get her s— back together so she could tell me specific reactions, and then she’d just tear up and start crying again," James toldEmpirein March 2025. “Finally, I’m like, ‘Honey, I’ve got to go to bed. Sorry, we’ll talk about it some other time.' "

The pair first met in 1997 on the set ofTitanic, which James directed and Suzy appeared in as Lizzy Calvert. They went on to tie the knot in 2000 and later welcomed three daughters. In addition to raising a family together, the director and the former actress have also worked together on severalenvironmentalandeducationalinitiatives. James toldThe Guardianin 2017 why he thinks their relationship works so well.

“Being attracted to strong independent women has the downside that they’re strong independent women — they inherently don’t need you,” he said with a laugh. “Fortunately, I’m married now to a strong independent woman who does believe she needs me.”

Though Suzy retired from acting in the ’90s, she still regularly supports her husband at Hollywood events. In 2023,the couple attendedthe Critics Choice Awards, where James' filmAvatar: the Way of Waterwon for best visual effects.

So, who is James Cameron’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Suzy Amis Cameron and her relationship with theAvatardirector.

She’s from Oklahoma City

Suzy Amis Cameron and James Cameron attend Suzy Amis Cameron’s 10-Year Anniversary Of RCGD Celebration on February 21, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.Robin Marchant/Getty

Suzy was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Okla. Though she’s been a vegan since the early 2010s, she grew up in a family that was anything but.

“I came from a big Oklahoma family,” she toldThrive Magazinein 2017. “We were taught that we had to drink milk to keep our bones strong, and meat and potatoes were the norm. Vegetables made minor appearances in meals.”

The Oklahoma-born actress also discussed her upbringing during a 2019 interview withO, The Oprah Magazine. “I grew up in a very religious household, but inside a church I never really felt the sense that there was something bigger than us,” Suzy toldOprah Winfrey. “The only time I felt that way was when I was outdoors.”

She’s a former model and actress

James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron attend the premiere of 20th Century Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” at Westwood Regency Theater on February 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Like her husband, Suzy had a successful career in the entertainment industry, working as a model and actress. Shortly after marrying James, she retired to focus on raising their children.

In the early days of her career, Suzy was signed to Ford Models before she pivoted to acting and began appearing on the big screen, per a 2019 interview withThe Proof with Simon Hill. Her biggest acting role to date was inTitanic, where she played Rose’s granddaughter, Lizzy Calvert.

She also appeared inThe Usual Suspectsas Edie Finneran,The Battle of Little Joas the titular character andWhere the Heart Isas Chloe McBain.

She met James on the set ofTitanic

Barry King / Liaison Agency

Suzy first met the iconic director on the set ofTitanic. At the time, James was in a relationship withTerminator 2: Judgment DaystarLinda Hamilton, with whom he shares a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron. He married Hamilton in 1997, but the pairfiled for divorceshortly after in 1999.

Not long after his divorce from Hamilton, James and Suzy tied the knot in 2000.

She and James have three children together

James and Suzy have three daughters: Claire Cameron, Quinn Cameron and Elizabeth Rose Cameron. In October 2020, the couplepetitioned to be permanent guardiansof one of their daughter’s friends after beinggranted temporary guardianshipearlier that year.

The Camerons said that the teenager had been living with them and attending school in California since September 2019, after her parents became “increasingly unable to care” for her.

James is known for his no-nonsense directing style, a habit he admits was sometimes hard to shake off when it came to parenting.

When James' children called a family meeting to give him parenting notes, he realized his approach had been unfair. The experience was eye-opening — and partially inspired the plot ofAvatar: The Way of Water.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to work out a lot of my stuff, artistically, that I’ve gone through as a parent of five kids,’ " James told the publication. “The overarching idea is, the family is the fortress. It’s our greatest weakness and our greatest strength. I thought, ‘I can write the hell out of this. I know what it is to be the a—— dad.’ "

She was married once before

George Pimentel/Getty

Suzy is James' fifth wife, and he is her second husband. The former actress was previously married to actorSam Robards— the son ofJason Robards Jr.andLauren Bacall— whom she met on the set of her first movie,Fandango.

She and Robards were married from 1986 until 1994 and share a son named Jasper Robards. Before marrying Suzy, James was married to Sharon Williams, Gale Hurd, Kathryn Bigelow and Linda Hamilton.

She is an environmental activist and author

John Lamparski/WireImage

Suzy is an environmental advocate and wrote a book in 2018 calledThe OMD Plan, which encourages eating one plant-based meal a day to better the planet and one’s health. She also produced the documentariesThe Game Changers,which is about plant-based athletes, andMilked, which exposes the whitewash of the New Zealand dairy industry.

Suzy serves on the boards of various environmentalist organizations as well, including LIVEKINDLY and IMAGINE. She is also the co-founder of Verdient Foods, Cameron Family Farms, Food Forest Organics and Plant Power Task Force, all of which focus on plant-based eating and sustainability.

In 2009, Suzy launched theRed Carpet Green Dress initiativeto promote sustainable fashion on the red carpet, collaborating with stars likeLakeith StanfieldandEmma Roberts.

Suzy was also anexecutive produceron 2023’sJunk, an Italian docuseries that addresses the impact of fast fashion.

She inspired Winfrey to change her diet

James Cameron and wife Suzy Amis arrive at the “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” World Premiere at Embassy Theatre on November 28, 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand.Hagen Hopkins/Getty

Suzy and James first switched to a plant-based diet after watchingForks Over Knivesin 2012. She toldO, The Oprah Magazinethat the couple immediately began a crusade to get others to see the proverbial light of vegetarianism and veganism without seeming overly preachy or extreme.

“Jim and I eat only plant-based foods, and once we started, we were always on our soapbox — people ran in the other direction when they saw us coming. I realized we needed a more accessible approach, a plan,” she said. “If you eat a single plant-based meal each day as one of your three meals, you will be saving tens of thousands of gallons of water every year and drastically reducing your carbon output. Not to mention the health benefits.”

Suzy’s “One Meal a Day” plan convinced Winfrey to switch to at least one plant-based meal daily.

She founded a school

James Cameron (R) and wife, Suzy Amis arrive to 60th Annual ACE Eddie Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 14, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California.Michael Tran/FilmMagic

In 2006, James, Suzy and her sister Rebecca Amis, who has a background in childhood education, teamed up to establish a private school in Calabasas, Calif. MUSE Global School offers in-person learning from preschool through 12th grade on an “eco-friendly campus,” per theLos Angeles Times.

The school focuses on “passion-based learning,” whichSuzy describesas honing in on a subject, topic or activity that a student loves (a “Passion Project”) and showing students how core academic concepts “exist in all areas.” MUSE is one of the first schools in the U.S. to be entirely solar-powered, and it provides an entirely plant-based lunch program.

“It’s about raising kids who don’t think it’s strange or exotic or worthy of a pat on the back to be doing the right thing for the living biosphere,” James told PEOPLE of the school’s vegan menu.

source: people.com