Who Is James Cameron's Wife? All About Suzy Amis Cameron

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

James Cameron and his wife Suzy Amis Cameron have no problem finding a work-life balance.

The pair first met on the set of Titanic, which James directed and Suzy appeared in as Lizzy Calvert. They went on to tie the knot in 2000 and welcome three daughters. In addition to raising a family together, the director and the former actress also work together on several environmental and educational initiatives. James previously told The Guardian why he thinks their relationship works so well.

"Being attracted to strong independent women has the downside that they're strong independent women — they inherently don't need you," he said with a laugh. "Fortunately, I'm married now to a strong independent woman who does believe she needs me."

Though Suzy retired from acting in the '90s, she still regularly supports her husband at Hollywood events. Most recently, the couple stepped out together at the London premiere of James' highly anticipated Avatar sequel on Dec. 8, 2022.

So, who is the woman who won the Avatar director's heart? Here's everything to know about Suzy Amis Cameron and her long-lasting relationship with James Cameron.

She's from Oklahoma City

Robin Marchant/Getty

Suzy was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Though she's vegan now, she grew up in a family that was anything but. "I came from a big Oklahoma family. We were taught that we had to drink milk to keep our bones strong, and meat and potatoes were the norm," she told Thrive magazine. "Vegetables made minor appearances in meals."

The Oklahoma native also discussed her upbringing during an interview with O, The Oprah Magazine. "I grew up in a very religious household, but inside a church I never really felt the sense that there was something bigger than us," Suzy told Oprah Winfrey. "The only time I felt that way was when I was outdoors."

She's a former model and actress

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Like her husband, Suzy had a successful career in the entertainment industry, working as a model and actress. Shortly after marrying James, however, she retired to focus on raising their children.

In the early days of her career, Suzy was signed to Ford Models before she pivoted to acting and began appearing on the big screen. Her biggest acting role was in Titanic as Lizzy Calvert, Rose's granddaughter. She also appeared in The Usual Suspects as Edie Finneran, The Battle of Little Jo as the titular character Jo and Where the Heart Is as Chloe McBain.

She met Cameron on the set of Titanic

Barry King / Liaison Agency

Suzy first met the iconic director on the set of Titanic. At the time, James was in a relationship with Terminator 2: Judgment Day star Linda Hamilton, with whom he shares a daughter, Josephine Archer. He married Hamilton in 1997, but the pair filed for divorce shortly after in 1999.

Not long after his divorce from Hamilton, James and Suzy tied the knot in 2000.

She and Cameron have three children together

James and Suzy welcomed their first daughter, Claire, in 1997, who was later joined by daughters Quinn and Elizabeth Rose. On Oct. 6, 2020, the couple petitioned to be permanent guardians of one of their daughter's friends after being granted temporary guardianship in June 2020. The Camerons said that the teenager had been living with them and attending school in California since September 2019, after her parents became "increasingly unable to care" for her.

James is known for his no-nonsense directing style, a habit he admits was sometimes hard to shake off when it came to parenting. "I'm on a rules-based universe, and the kids weren't into it," he told The Hollywood Reporter in November 2022. "They said, 'You're never around half the time. And, then, when you come home, you try to make up for it by telling us all what to do. And Mom's really the one that's been making all the rules the whole time while you've been off shooting. So you don't get to come home and do that.' "

However, after their children called a family meeting to give their father parenting notes a few years back, he realized his approach had been unfair. In fact, the experience was eye-opening — and would go on to partially inspire the plot of Avatar: The Way of Water.

"I thought, 'I'm going to work out a lot of my stuff, artistically, that I've gone through as a parent of five kids,' " James told the publication. "The overarching idea is, the family is the fortress. It's our greatest weakness and our greatest strength. I thought, 'I can write the hell out of this. I know what it is to be the a----- dad.'"

She was married once before

George Pimentel/Getty

Suzy is James' fifth wife, and he is her second husband. The former actress was previously married to actor Sam Robards — the son of Jason Robards Jr. and Lauren Bacall — whom she met on the set of her first movie, Fandango. She and Robards were married from 1986 until 1994 and share a son named Jasper.

She is an environmental activist and author

John Lamparski/WireImage

These days, Suzy spends most of her time advocating for the environment. She is the author of The OMD Plan, which encourages eating one plant-based meal a day to better the planet and one's health. She also produced the documentaries The Game Changers, which is about plant-based athletes, and Milked, which exposes the whitewash of the New Zealand dairy industry.

Suzy serves on the boards of various environmentalist organizations as well, including LIVEKINDLY and IMAGINE. She is also the co-founder of Verdient Foods, Cameron Family Farms, Food Forest Organics and Plant Power Task Force, all of which focus on plant-based eating and sustainability.

Her environmentalism does not stop there, however. In 2009, Suzy launched the Red Carpet Green Dress initiative to promote sustainable fashion on the red carpet, collaborating with stars like Lakeith Stanfield and Emma Roberts.

She inspired Oprah Winfrey to change her diet

Hagen Hopkins/Getty

Suzy and James first switched to a plant-based diet after watching Forks Over Knives in 2012. She told O, The Oprah Magazine that the couple immediately began a crusade to get others to see the proverbial light of vegetarianism and veganism without seeming overly preachy or extreme.

"Jim and I eat only plant-based foods, and once we started, we were always on our soapbox — people ran in the other direction when they saw us coming. I realized we needed a more accessible approach, a plan," she said. "If you eat a single plant-based meal each day as one of your three meals, you will be saving tens of thousands of gallons of water every year and drastically reducing your carbon output. Not to mention the health benefits."

Suzy's "One Meal a Day" plan convinced Winfrey to switch to at least one plant-based meal daily.

She founded a school

Michael Tran/FilmMagic

In 2006, James, Suzy and her sister Rebecca, who has a background in childhood education, teamed up to establish a private school in Calabasas, California. MUSE Global School offers in-person learning from preschool through 12th grade on an "eco-friendly campus."

The school focuses on "passion-based learning," which Suzy describes as honing in on a subject, topic or activity that a student loves (a "Passion Project") and showing students how core academic concepts "exist in all areas." MUSE is one of the first schools in the U.S. to be entirely solar-powered and it provides an entirely plant-based lunch program.

"It's about raising kids who don't think it's strange or exotic or worthy of a pat on the back to be doing the right thing for the living biosphere," James told PEOPLE of the school's vegan menu.