CNN
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James Cameron is sharing some surprising details from the making of his blockbuster hit “Titanic,” which celebrates 25 years since its release next month.
In a new video interview with GQThe iconic director revealed that he almost didn’t cast Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet – two of his romantic leads whose careers were cemented as major Hollywood movie stars by the landmark Oscar-winning film.
When considering actors to play their star-crossed lovers on the doomed ocean liner, Cameron explained that he was initially thinking of someone like Gwyneth Paltrow for Rose, and that when Winslet was proposed as an option Was gone, he was afraid that he was. Too much typecast.
“I haven’t actually seen Kate before,” he said in the video. “She also did some other historical dramas, and she was getting a reputation as ‘Corset Kate’ while doing historical stuff.” (It’s true that “The Reader” actress’ three credits before “Titanic” were also period costume dramas — “Sense and Sensibility” in 1995, “Jude” a year later and “Hamlet”.)
Cameron added that he was afraid that casting Winslet would “look like the laziest casting in the world,” but he eventually agreed to meet her anyway. Of course, he thought she was “brilliant,” and the rest is history.
With DiCaprio, meanwhile, there were some initial hiccups.
After an initial “hysterical” meeting with the heartthrob actor, in which all the women in the production office somehow ended up in the conference room with Cameron, DiCaprio was called back for a screen test with Winslet, who at the time had already been cast. was .
But when the “Romeo + Juliet” star arrived, he was shocked to learn that he would have to read lines and film with Winslet to find out their chemistry on camera.
“He came in, he thought it was another appointment to see Kate,” Cameron explained.
He recalled telling the duo, “We’ll just play a few lines, and I’ll video it.”
But then DiCaprio — who by then had directed several films and received an Oscar nomination for 1993’s “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” — informed Cameron, “You mean I’m reading?…I’m not. reads,” meaning he no longer presents. to audition for film roles.
Without missing a beat, Cameron extended her hand to the star and told her, “Okay, thanks for coming.”
The director then told DiCaprio about the enormity of the project before him, how the film was going to take two years out of his life, and how he was “not going to make it through a bad casting decision.”
“So you’re going to study or you’re not going to get the part,” Cameron said he told the young actor.
DiCaprio reluctantly submitted, to his credit.
Cameron recalled how the actor “lighted up” and “became Jack,” creating an electric chemistry with Winslet evident later in the film.
“Titanic” opened in theaters on December 19, 1997 and eventually went on to win 11 Academy Awards for Cameron, including Best Director.
