James Cameron revealed that his wife had a strong emotional response after watching Avatar: Fire and Ash for the first time. In an interview with Empire, the director said she watched an early cut of the film without having seen any prior footage and was deeply affected.

“My wife watched the whole thing from end to end. She had kept herself away from it, and I wasn’t showing her bits and pieces as we went along,” Cameron said. “She cried for four hours. She kept trying to compose herself so she could tell me specific reactions, and then she’d tear up and start crying again.”

He eventually had to pause the conversation. “Finally, I’m like, ‘Honey, I’ve got to go to bed. Sorry, we’ll talk about it some other time,’” he recalled.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in Cameron’s Avatar series.