PERISCOPE

James Cameron

In 1997, he was the king of the world. Then he literally went off the deep end. "Titanic" director James Cameron's second ocean-life documentary is an IMAX production called "Aliens of the Deep." NEWSWEEK's Devin Gordon asked the Oscar winner about the big picture.

The best part of "Aliens of the Deep" is watching how gee-whiz excited you get down there.

Yeah--how I get, how the scientists get. I love taking these Ph.D.s out there and watching them reduced to 5-year-old kids.

Are they easier to work with than, say, actors?

[Laughs] Well, it's funny, there's some of the same concerns: How do I look? Am I doing something stupid? The thing is, science is important to every scientist. But maybe one in 10 can express why.