Nick, first of all, thank you for letting me interview you! Now, let's start with the questions! Who are you and what was your role in "Titanic?"

My name is Nicholas Cascone, and I played Bobby Buell.

Nick, what was your typical day like?

Up at 6 PM for a 7 PM set call at the Keldysh's dock. Cruise about an hour out to the shooting site, during which I'd go through wardrobe, makeup and hair. Shoot for about 12 hours, on a normal "day". If I was released early, I'd get a speedboat lift back to the dock, otherwise cruise back in on the Keldysh. Get back to the hotel around 10 AM, crash and do it over again the next day.

That sounds like a really long day! And here I thought that the Rosarito set was the only set that worked the night shift! So, when did you first see the final product? Were you happy with the end result?

I attended the first cast & crew screening. To be honest, I was disappointed that some of my scenes were cut, but after hearing that just about everyone's work was cut to some extent, I felt better.

Hopefully we will get to see that footage someday! Nick, did you contribute any ideas/suggestions to the film? Did they make "the final cut?"

My approach to Buell was quite different from Jim's original thoughts concerning the character. My view pretty much prevailed in the film.

How interesting! What did you learn from the experience?

I learned a great deal about directing from Jim; watching him work an enormous, unwieldy cast and crew, plus countless technical elements was fascinating.

Nick, was Cameron as bad as the press has made him out to be?

Nope. He had a big job, and didn't have time to deal with mistakes, arguments, or incompetence. It's not PC these days to act like you know more about something than someone else, but Jim doesn't care about that. He's totally focused on getting the job done. People on his set who have agendas besides that will get yelled at. In my opinion, that's exactly as it should be.

It sounds like he was made out to be a lot worse than he really was. He just needed to get the job done. Nick, if you could do it all over again, would you?

In a heartbeat.

If you could change anything about the experience, what would you have changed?

I would have paid more attention to everything that was going on besides my work. It was a unique opportunity to be behind the scenes of Hollywood history, though I didn't fully realize it at the time.

Who knew it would be such a big movie! If you could go back in time and observe any part of the film being made, what would you have wanted to see?

I'd want to see the digital effects being created; it turns out I have a friend who worked for a very long time on the effects. I'd have liked to sit with him and watch him do his work.

Wow, what a rare coincidence! Did you ever go to the set in Rosarito?

Nope.

What is the first question you are usually asked when someone finds out you were in Titanic?

"You were in Titanic? Really? Who were you? Did you have lines?"

Does anyone notice you in restaurants and such? Has/was it a hassle?

Occasionally, but not much from Titanic these days. I was in the very beginning of the movie, and by the time the end comes, people have pretty much forgotten about the modern-day story, except for the characters of Rose and Brock.

I remembered you! =) Nick, how did you get this job?

Audition.

Easy enough! Were you interested in Titanic prior to the film?

A bit, but not to the extent that I became interested in it during filming.

Nick, have you worked on any other films or shows prior to Titanic?

You bet. I have been in quite a few films, television shows, commercials and stage shows.

Nick, if you could meet someone that was actually on the ship, who would it be and why?

Hard to say. I'd like to have a talk with Captain Smith and Mr. Ismay, and I know I'd like to have been friends with the Strauses.

Would you go down to the wreck site?

I think not. Too dangerous, and not really much to see down there but a big wrecked ship. The human stories are the interesting part of the event, and they're not found down there.

Very good point. If you were on the Titanic what would you have done to save yourself?

If I were alone, I'd probably have helped women and children onto a lifeboat, hoping that by being helpful I'd get the crew to allow me on the boat. If I were with my family, I'd have done all I could to get them on a boat first, and say my goodbyes. After that, if I could get a boat, I would.

What a guy! If you could change anything in the film, what would you change?

It's self-serving, but I would have left more of my scenes in the finished product! Also, in my fantasies, I'd have liked to rewrite the love story and redirect the leads; there was a lot more to those characters than I saw them put on the screen.

Who wouldnt want to see more of their lines thrown back in! Hmm, sounds like we have an aspiring director here! So, do you still talk to anyone from the movie?

I get Christmas cards from Jim every year, but the only person I see on a regular basis is the casting director, Mali Finn. She brings me in to audition for practically every project she works on, and I'm very grateful to her for that.

Nick, I have to ask this, were you there for the PCP incident? What really happened?

You bet. Here's my version of the story (it's a little long):

We were already a couple of days over schedule. Every morning I'd get back to my room and call my wife Monica in LA to explain why I wasn't coming home that day. Finally, we actually got to the last day of filming in Halifax, and we were all very excited to be finished and to get back home to our loved ones. I remember asking the production people about how I would get my airline ticket, my ride to the airport, etc.

We were filming in the video room set that night. Around 2 A.M., we broke for "lunch", which was being served by our new caterers. The new folks were absolutely terrific, and had replaced a caterer that, frankly, was really no good. We all tucked into a delicious meal, and one that we thought would be our last in Halifax. I helped myself to everything they served, including a big bowl of delicious lobster chowder. I remember sitting at the table having an intense discussion about art and philosophy with Ed Marsh, the video documentarian, and a number of other cast and crew. Finally, they called "We're back," and we all got up to bus our tables. Upon standing, I noticed that I felt a little odd - sort of dizzy and detached. It felt a little bit like the dizziness you get when you're drunk or have the flu.

I went out of the makeshift cafeteria and tracked down the set "medic". I told him I wasn't feeling 100% and wasn't sure why. As I was speaking, someone came running up behind me shouting that someone had just collapsed in the cafeteria. After that, all hell broke loose. I went back into the cafeteria, where Ed was filming the chaos. He sat me down and interviewed me for the camera; I wonder whether that got into the "making of" video?

It wasn't long before it was clear that a medical emergency was underway. About a third of the cast and crew, me included, were wandering around experiencing various peculiar mental states, from euphoria to terror. In my case, the dizziness went away soon, and I was left with a feeling of very profound detachment and unreality, almost as if I was watching everything happen on a giant movie screen. Soon, the assistant directors were doing triage, separating those with symptoms from those without, and loading affected crew members onto vans for a trip to Halifax Hospital.

Around 3:30 am, 80 of us descended on the hospital emergency room. I'm sure the staff there had never seen anything remotely like this. Jim joined his cameraman and other crew members for a kickline dance in the center of the waiting room. Bill Paxton rode with me on the van, but vanished very soon after we arrived at the hospital. He'd gone back to his hotel room to hang out. Two other crew members had found wheelchairs and were racing up and down the hallway. I found myself caring for a number of people who were having freakouts, helping them to ride the "trip" and reassuring them everything would be OK.

I guess I was one of the most lucid there, because for some reason the doctor chose me to interview about my symptoms as he tried to figure out what was happening. His provisional diagnosis was some sort of neurotoxin in the shellfish we had all eaten. Since no one knew what dosage we had had, or how bad the effects could be, they began administering liquid charcoal in order to absorb any toxins let in our stomachs. I had one of the first doses. It looked, smelled, and tasted almost exactly like toner fluid. Yum!

The story kind of peters out after that. Everyone got their charcoal, and we were loaded back onto the vans and driven back to the hotel. As I had done for the previous four days, I called Monica and told the most incredible story yet about why I wasn't flying home that day...

Epilogue: About three weeks later, I received a letter from the Halifax police notifying me that the chowder had been analyzed, and was found to have contained traces of PCP. To the best of my knowledge, they still haven't caught the culprit, though everyone has their suspicions. So now, when the subject of illegal drugs comes up, I can always say, "Well, I've had PCP..." It usually gets a rise out of others.

Wow, what a story! Lucky no one was seriously hurt! Those wheelchairs can be dangerous when operating them while under the influence! =) Did you expect such a huge success?

Who could? The extent of the movie's success was a surprise to everyone involved, especially considering the negative press coverage Titanic had received during filming.

Nick, what is your favorite scene to watch/least favorite to watch?

Favorite scene: anything with me! Actually, I really like the look of the scene where the lifeboat returns to the wreck site and there's nothing but dead bodies, flashlight beams, black water, dark blue sky and stars. I think I'd rather not state my least favorite.

So what is your favorite scene to film/ least favorite to film?

I had the most fun filming a scene that was cut. In the original version, when Brock runs after Rose at the stern of the Keldysh, Buell, Bodine and Lizzy are in the scene as well. We all had reaction shots to Rose tossing the diamond off the stern. That was fun to film.

My least favorite was also the hardest day; the first day of filming. We had two helicopters working, two full-size ships, something like six cameras, and nobody knew each other's names! It was a long, boring day for the actors, and we were little more than props. But, hey, that's show business.

Nick, thank you for your time. Do you have any final thoughts?

I feel blessed to have been a part of this picture. I'm thrilled that so many people have seen the film, and that so many love it so much. My thanks to Jim and Mali for getting me involved. And I never think of the film, the story, or the ship without also remembering the tragedy that happened and the innocent lives that were ended by the pride, vanity, and stupidity of a few powerful men.

Thank you Nick for letting me interview you!