Eric Braeden Says he was Reluctant to Accept "Titanic" Role

[JamesG]

Eric Braeden Originally Wanted No Part of Titanic: "I Don't Give a **** about James Cameron"
by Derek Lawrence
May 4, 2026


Eric Braeden almost made a titanic career mistake.

"The Young and the Restless" legend appeared in the 1997 mega-blockbuster Titanic as John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthiest man on the doomed ship. But the actor, now 85, initially wasn't interested in the "not big" role and passed on the chance to audition.

"I didn't want to do it," he recently recalled on the Still Here Hollywood podcast. "I said, 'I don't give a **** about James Cameron. I don't know him.'"




But Braeden's son, Christian Gudegast, kept pushing him to go out for the film, believing he needed to work with Cameron. Fast-forward a couple decades, and Gudagest is a noted filmmaker in his own right, having written and directed the two Den of Thieves installments.

Braeden kid's insistence led him to head over to Warner Bros. for a meeting with an "arrogant" casting director who he said kept him waiting and then asked what he was doing there. "I said, 'I just asked myself the same question,'" the actor recalled, adding that he proceeded to walk out.

“I called the agency, 'Don't ever, ever, ever send me to some ******** like that again.'"




A month later, Braeden said he received a call saying Cameron "really wants" to see him. Upon reading more about the real Astor, Braden decided it was an "interesting" character, and so he returned for another casting call. He was shocked that they had him read just two lines, but it turned out that was more than enough.

"It was totally unnecessary to do this [because] James Cameron was a big fan of Colossus," Braeden revealed, referring to his 1970 sci-fi thriller.




With Cameron's fandom earning Braeden the role, a deal was worked out with Y&R to give him time to film on Titanic, though he still "couldn't be in a number of scenes" because of the overlapping shooting schedules.

In the film, Astor is introduced to Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) by Rose (Kate Winslet) in the first-class dining saloon, and asks if the young man is a member of the distinguished Dawson family of Boston, not knowing that Jack is an orphan from Wisconsin. Astor doesn't make it off the boat, with the character last seen as water surges through the Grand Staircase.

"I'm glad I did [Titanic] in retrospect because I have enormous respect for James Cameron," Braeden said. "If I've ever met a person who I would call a genius without any hesitation, he is that person."

https://ew.com/titanic-actor-origina...meron-11966358