James Cameron pays tribute to his friend Bill Paxton

From Digital Spy

Titanic director James Cameron has paid tribute to his late friend, Bill Paxton, who passed away at the age of 61 today (February 26).

In a statement released to Vanity Fair, Cameron said: "I've been reeling from this for the past half hour, trying to wrap my mind and heart around it. Bill leaves such a void."

He went on to reflect on the two's friendship: "He and I were close friends for 36 years, since we met on the set of a Roger Corman ultra-low budget movie."

"What followed was 36 years of making films together, helping develop each other's projects, going on scuba diving trips together, watching each other's kids growing up, even diving the Titanic wreck together in Russian subs.

"It was a friendship of laughter, adventure, love of cinema, and mutual respect."

Paxton starred in Cameron's Titanic as Brock Lovett, the man searching the wreck of the Titanic to find the diamond known as the Heart of the Ocean, leading him to an elderly Rose Dawson Calvert.

Cameron finished his statement with a touching message, saying: "The world is a lesser place for his passing, and I will profoundly miss him."

Tributes have also been flooding in from other Hollywood greats. Tom Hanks, who starred in Apollo 13 with Paxton, called him: "simply, a wonderful man."

Arnold Schwarzenegger called his late friend: "a great human being with a huge heart."

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