Billy Zane Speaks Out on Infamous PCP Incident During “Titanic” Filming, When Cast and Crew Were Unknowingly Drugged
Billy Zane Speaks Out on Infamous PCP Incident During “Titanic” Filming, When Cast and Crew Were Unknowingly Drugged
Virginia ChamleeFri, July 17, 2026 at 6:57 PM UTC
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Billy ZaneCredit: Jesse Grant/WWD via Getty; Merie W. Wallace/Paramount -
Billy Zane says he was not present during the infamous PCP incident on the Titanic set in 1996
Around 80 cast and crew members, including James Cameron and Bill Paxton, were hospitalized after unknowingly ingesting tainted chowder
Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Gloria Stewart were unaffected as they were not filming or didn’t eat the chowder
Billy Zane is opening up about a mysterious incident on the set of the epic 1997 film Titanic, in which a number of cast and crew members were sickened after unknowingly ingesting PCP.
Speaking on the Friday, July 17 episode of the Brotherly Love podcast, Zane, 60, said that he “wasn’t there” when the incident took place, but did acknowledge that it happened when the “modern day portion” of the film was being shot.
“I can’t remember if it was oatmeal or if it was some clam chowder, but it was, yeah,” Zane said. “And those who were fortunate enough to have recognized, you know, early stages of coming on to hallucinogens were like, ‘Okay, we’re going to ride this one out.’ Those who didn’t were pretty terrified. Um, as I heard.”
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James Cameron on the set of Titanic (1997)Credit: Merie W. Wallace/Paramount
Earlier reports have noted that some 80 members of the film cast and crew were sickened and hospitalized as a result of ingesting the PCP, including director James Cameron and late actor Bill Paxton.
As Vanity Fair reported in a retrospective, the PCP incident took place on Aug. 8, 1996 — what was meant to be the final night of filming in Nova Scotia — and Cameron felt “suddenly and very distinctly woozy.”
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 1996, Paxton recounted, “Some people were laughing, some people were crying, some people were throwing up.”
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“One minute I felt O.K., the next minute I felt so godd--- anxious I wanted to breathe in a paper bag,” the actor, who died on Feb. 25, 2017, at 61 years old, added. “Cameron was feeling the same way.”
Once the dozens of cast and crew members arrived at a nearby hospital, the scene unraveled even further, with set decorator Marilyn McAvoy describing to Vice: “Eventually we all got put in these cubicles with the curtains around us, but no one wanted to stay in their cubicles. Everyone was out in the aisles and jumping into other people’s cubicles. People had a lot of energy. Some were in wheelchairs, flying down the hallways. I mean, everyone was high!”
Added Cameron of the scene: “People are moaning and crying, wailing, collapsed on tables and gurneys. The D.P., Caleb Deschanel, is leading a number of crew down the hall in a highly vocal conga line. You can’t make this stuff up.”
As Zane joked on the podcast, “It’s the true secret to the success of the film, really.”
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The film’s stars — Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio — were not filming that day and reportedly unaffected by the PCP. Zane said Gloria Stewart, who also starred in the film, was also unaffected, as she did not eat the tainted chowder in question.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
