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Eric Braeden almost turned down Titanic role

Eric Braeden almost passed up his role as John Jacob Astor in Titanic because he didn’t think the part was significant enough.
The star played the American businessman in the 1997 blockbuster film, but after researching Astor he thought the character should have more presence in the movie.
“It just wasn’t that big enough of a role,” he told U.S. chat show The Talk on Friday (10Feb17). “I went down the drain in that damn thing. I read about John Jacob Astor before, so this is an interesting fellow.”
After agreeing to appear in the movie, Braeden also had reservations about working with director James Cameron after hearing he was difficult to work with.
“The driver (who picked me up at the airport) said, ‘Are you ready to work with the biggest a** in the business…?'” he added. “The wardrobe person came and said a similar thing, so I said, ‘I’m going to get the hell out of here, I won’t stay here’.
“Then an assistant to James Cameron came by and asked me to come to the set, where they were filming, and he tapped me on the shoulder… and said, ‘Welcome…’ He couldn’t have been more charming and I stayed and then after one of the scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, I just finished the scene and he said, ‘Never!’ So I though he was criticising my acting. I was ready to do battle. I said, ‘What the hell did you say?’ He said, ‘That’s the last line of the movie (Colossus: The Forbin Project),’ which I starred in. So he was a fan of the film, so it was nice. It was a wonderful time.”

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