How Filming 1989’s ‘The Abyss’ Nearly Killed the Star-Studded Cast and Director James Cameron

Making the 1989 sci-fi film The Abyss involved so many hazards that it nearly killed its cast — including Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biegn.

Near-drownings, electrocutions and suffocations — not to mention mental breakdowns — had them privately calling it The Abuse. Even director James Cameron nearly went to a watery grave when his oxygen supply went bust.

Cast and crew learned underwater diving for the movie, about a stranded search-and-recovery team that runs into deep-sea aliens, because 40 percent of principal photography took place inside two massive, specially constructed water tanks.

At one point, a fed-up Mastrantonio stormed out, yelling: “We are not animals!” And Cameron later admitted: “I don’t ever want to go through this again,” according to FandomWire.

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