James Cameron, who has long admired New Zealand, permanently moved to the country with wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Now, the Avatar: Fire and Ash director has shared the reason
behind this surprising decision. The 71-year-old filmmaker appeared on the latest episode of In Depth with Graham Besinger, where he revealed that the country’s “sanity” and trust in science ultimately convinced him to leave the United States.
He explained that his connection to New Zealand dates back decades. Cameron said he first visited the country in 1994 and immediately fell in love with it.
“I made myself a promise. ‘I’m going to come live here someday,’” Cameron recalled, adding that he “just really fell in love with” both the country and its people.
James Cameron Shifted To New Zealand In August 2020
Although Cameron married his fifth and current wife, actress and environmental advocate Suzy Amis Cameron, in 2000, it wasn’t until years later that the couple began seriously planning a permanent move.
Cameron shared, “When Suzy and I were first getting serious, she said, ‘Fine, no problem.’ She was game. Now, later, we have children, we have a family, we’ve got roots in Malibu and Santa Barbara, that conversation had to be amended slightly, but we did say after Avatar, let’s make this happen.”
In 2011, two years after the release of Avatar, they purchased a farm in New Zealand, spending the next several years traveling back and forth while Cameron continued working on the Avatar franchise. They finally decided to take the plunge in August 2020.
How Did COVID-19 Pandemic Influence His Decision
The turning point came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cameron said New Zealand’s handling of the global health crisis played a major role in the family’s decision to relocate full-time in August 2020. “New Zealand had eliminated the virus completely,” Cameron said, noting the country’s high vaccination rate and coordinated public response.
“They actually eliminated the virus twice. The third time when it showed up in a mutated form, it broke through. But fortunately, they already had a 98 percent vaccination rate. This is why I love New Zealand. People there are, for the most part, sane as opposed to the United States where you had a 62 percent vaccination rate, and that’s going down – going the wrong direction,” he added.
‘I’m There For The Sanity:’ James Cameron Clears
Comparing New Zealand to the United States, Cameron posed a hypothetical question during the interview. “Where would you rather live? A place that actually believes in science and is sane and where people can work together cohesively to a common goal, or a place where everybody’s at each other’s throats, extremely polarized, turning its back on science and basically would be in utter disarray if another pandemic appears?”
When Bensinger described the US as “a fantastic place to live,” Cameron responded bluntly, “Is it?”
“I’m not there for scenery, I’m there for sanity,” the filmmaker added, acknowledging New Zealand’s natural beauty while emphasizing its social stability. Cameron officially became a New Zealand citizen in August 2025.
James Cameron’s Personal Life
The filmmaker married four times before tying the knot with his fifth and current wife, Suzy Amis Cameron. James Cameron and Amis share three daughters: Claire (23), Quinn (21), and Elizabeth (18). He also shares a fourth daughter, Josephine, 31, from his second marriage to actress Linda Hamilton.
Amis Cameron, on the other hand, has a son named Jasper from her previous marriage to actor Sam Robards.
