James Cameron’s Wildest Film Nearly Claimed Its Star

James Cameron’s underwater sci-fi epic, The Abyss, is infamous for its punishing shoot, which saw the cast and crew pushed to their limits. The production’s reputation for danger is well-earned, with lead actor Ed Harris facing life-threatening situations. Yet, amid all the chaos, Cameron found himself performing an unlikely rescue—saving a rat named Beady after a near-drowning incident during a demonstration of oxygenated water technology.

Beady the Rat and Cameron’s Unlikely Mateship

While the decision to revive Beady was partly driven by the need to secure a ‘No Animals Were Harmed’ certification, Cameron later shared that he and the rat formed a close bond. Beady became a fixture in Cameron’s life, even keeping him company at his desk while he worked on Terminator 2. The director recalled,

Beady and I bonded over the whole thing. I saved his life. We were brothers. He used to sit on my desk while I was writing Terminator 2, and he lived to a ripe old age. He didn’t seem particularly traumatised, though I know the film is outlawed in the U.K. because of ‘animal cruelty.’

It’s one of the rare positive stories to come out of a production that saw more than a few close calls, with several actors and Cameron himself nearly coming to grief underwater.

Filming at the Deep End: Near Misses and Close Calls

The Abyss is often cited as one of the riskiest shoots in modern film history. The crew worked in an abandoned nuclear power plant, where Cameron himself almost drowned after diving into a massive water tank weighed down by 40 pounds of gear. He ran out of air and, in a panic, ditched his equipment and made a desperate dash for the surface. A safety diver tried to stop him mid-ascent, worried about the dangers of rapid pressure change, but Cameron, unable to breathe through the offered regulator, punched the bloke and kept going.

Ed Harris, who played Bud, also had a brush with disaster during the film’s climax. He chose to rely on his own breath rather than the hydrofluid, and while he managed to finish the scene, he later admitted there was a moment he thought it was all over.

It was a b*tch. It was pretty hairy…For a brief second, I thought this is it.

Ed Harris on Cameron and the Final Product

Despite the production’s many hazards, Harris doesn’t hold a grudge against Cameron, who was known for being a tough director in his early days. Harris has said he was happy with the finished film, except for the last ten minutes, which he found disappointing. He’s spoken warmly of Cameron since, saying,

I like Jim. He’s an incredibly talented, intelligent guy. In subsequent years after filming, it was always good to see him.

Cameron, for his part, doesn’t look back fondly on his first deep-sea adventure, but he’s acknowledged that the experience was vital for his later work on Titanic.

Legacy of a Gruelling Shoot

The Abyss remains available for rent on Apple TV, and its legacy as one of the most challenging productions in film history endures. The story of Beady the rat stands out as a rare moment of warmth in an otherwise tough-as-nails shoot, a reminder that even in the most trying circumstances, unexpected friendships can form.