9 Behind-The-Scenes Stories You Didn't Know About Your Favourite Films
2. The Whole Cast & Crew Getting Poisoned - Titanic
James Cameron's 1997 romantic drama cemented Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the public consciousness with their gripping love story set aboard the decks of the worlds most famous ship, The Titanic.
During the last night of filming in Nova Scotia before moving to Mexico, the cast and crew were excited that the production was moving on. At around midnight, which was lunching hour for the film schedule, the cast and crew were called to lunch which even James Cameron attended. The food was apparently amazing with the icing on the cake being the creamy clam chowder. It was so popular that the crew were lining up for second helpings before heading back to work.
It later became clear the clam chowder had been spiked with PCP (Phencyclidine) causing most of the crew including Bill Paxton to fall sick. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were saved, as neither had any scenes on the Canadian set.
Crew Member/Standby Painter Marilyn McAvoy noted:
"There was no indication that there was anything strange happening… until the meal. By the time we got back from eating, after about 30 minutes, that's when I started noticing something was wrong. Everyone seemed confused. Everyone was having trouble getting their work done. I also heard later on that as soon as James Cameron realized something had been put in the chowder, he ran up to his room and forced himself to throw up."