James Cameron reflects on his late friend and collaborator Bill Paxton

The movie world lost one of its finest character actors when Bill Paxton unexpectedly died in February from complications following heart surgery. His illustrious career was marked by a collection of fantastic films, and four of the best (The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic) were directed by James Cameron, who provided Paxton with his immortal “Game over, man!” line in Aliens and one of his all-time funniest roles in True Lies. No surprise, then, that when we spoke to Cameron recently about his upcoming 3D rerelease of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (in theaters Aug. 25), the topic turned to Paxton — and the filmmaker paid tribute to his friend and former collaborator (watch the clip above).

Cameron tells Yahoo Movies that he viewed Paxton as “the consummate artist” who had a “deep appreciation for art and culture” that wasn’t confined to the cinema. Moreover, the director says that the actor was a one-of-a-kind person — “they certainly broke the mold” — and noted that they became “fast friends” beginning in 1981, when both of them were still working for legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman. It was a friendship that would last for decades and was still strong at the time of the actor’s death: Cameron reveals that he last spoke with Paxton the night before the heart surgery that tragically ended the actor’s life at age 61.

Watch: Bill Paxton reveals the original ending of ‘Titanic’:

Read more from Yahoo Movies:

• ‘Game over, man!’: A mini oral history of Bill Paxton’s classic ‘Aliens’ freakout

• Role Recall: Bill Paxton breaks down his classic roles, from ‘Aliens’ to ‘Twister’ to ‘Apollo 13‘

• James Cameron pens moving tribute to his late best buddy, Bill Paxton