‘I’ll pay for the ransom’: Loyal Friend James Cameron Paid The Money When Guillermo del Toro’s Father Was Kidnapped
James Cameron is a renowned filmmaker in the Hollywood industry due to his contribution to the action genre in movies. Widely regarded as one of the most innovative personalities when it comes to filmmaking, he is a great person in real life as per his longtime friend, Guillermo del Toro. It’s all personal though!
The latter had an unfortunate event when he was working on Mimic. His father was kidnapped in 1997 which was quite dreadful happening. On watching his friend in trouble, Cameron went forward to help del Toro. Their efforts worked with the latter’s father was released by the kidnappers.
James Cameron Helped Guillermo del Toro in a Family Emergency
During the production of 1997’s Mimic which was quite problematic, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro got aware of another personal issue that was quite severe. As per the reports, his father, Federico del Toro, had been kidnapped off the streets of his Mexican hometown, Guadalajara, and kept held for ransom.
Previously it was reported that James Cameron reached out to help his friend and handed him over $1 million in cash for the ransom. Not just that, he even recommended a negotiator that would help the former’s father to get home safely.
Why $1 million? Well, del Toro as per reports had put all his money into Mimic, with his family’s fund not even close to the required sum. The kidnappers who held the former’s father hostage wanted $1 million for his safe return. His father was released after 72 days of being hostage.
Guillermo del Toro Set The Records Straight!
It was indeed true that James Cameron is a great friend who came to his friend’s dark time and helped him in a difficult situation. However, there had been a misconception in the story which Guillermo del Toro addressed during his appearance on the ReelBlend podcast
The Mexican filmmaker clarified that the Canadian filmmaker was not the one who paid the ransom.
“When my father was kidnapped … there’s information that is not correct, that he paid the ransom. He didn’t. We did.”
However, he shared that the Avatar filmmaker “paid for the negotiator. He paid for the negotiator, and we paid (Cameron) back a little while after.”
The Pan’s Labyrinth director addressed that “it was a really, really harrowing situation” referring to the kidnapping incident.
He explained,
“And he came in and he took charge. He said, ‘The hostage negotiator will be in your house in 72 hours to help you go through the process.’ He did it on his own. And we didn’t ask, he volunteered. And he did offer, he said, ‘I’ll pay for the ransom.’ He did offer. He is that kind of guy. He is incredibly loyal. Incredibly strong.“
Even though it was clear that Cameron was not the one who paid for ransom, he was indeed a great friend for taking charge of the dreadful situation and his friend is grateful for that.
The duo met during the pre-production of Mexican filmmaker’s 1993 hit, Cronos when the Titanic director wrapped his T2. Since then, they had stuck together and supported each other in their work.
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is now available in theatres.
Source: The ReelBlend
