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James Cameron almost didn’t choose Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet for ‘Titanic’

James Cameron is sharing some surprising details from the making of its blockbuster “Titanic,” which celebrates its 25th anniversary this December.

In an interview with GQ magazine, the iconic director revealed that he almost didn’t make it to the cast Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet – its two romantic leads whose careers as major Hollywood movie stars were cemented by the Academy Award-winning film.

When considering actors to play the roles of her star-crossed lovers on the doomed ocean liner, Cameron explained that he was initially thinking of someone like Gwyneth Paltrow for Rose, and that while Winslet had been proposed as an option, he feared she was too typecast.

“I actually didn’t see Kate at first. She also did some other historical dramas and was gaining a reputation as ‘Corset Kate’ [espartilho] doing historic things.” The three “The Reader” actress credits before “Titanic” were period dramas – “Sense and Sensibility” in 1995, followed by “Jude” and “Hamlet” a year later.

Cameron went on to say that he was scared that casting Winslet in the role “seemed like the laziest casting in the world”, but he nevertheless agreed to meet her in the end. Of course, he thought she was “fantastic” and the rest is history.

With DiCaprio, however, there were some initial setbacks.

After an initial “hysterical” encounter with the heartthrob actor, in which every female member of the production office somehow ended up in the conference room next to Cameron, DiCaprio was invited back for a screen test with Winslet, who had already had been climbed at that time.

But when the “Romeo + Juliet” star walked in, he was stunned to learn he’d have to read lines and be filmed alongside Winslet to gauge their on-camera chemistry.

“He walked in, thinking it was another meeting to meet Kate,” described Cameron.

He remembers telling the pair, “Let’s just run some lines and record it on video.”

But then DiCaprio – who had already directed several films and scored an Oscar nomination for 1993’s “Gilbert Grape: A Dreamer’s Apprentice” – informed Cameron.

“You mean ‘me reading?’ I don’t read,” meaning he no longer subjected himself to auditioning for film roles.

Without missing a beat, Cameron reached out to the star and told him, “Well, thanks for coming.”

The director then explained to DiCaprio the enormity of the project before them, how the film would take two years off his life and how he “wasn’t going to screw it up by making the wrong casting decision. 🇧🇷

“Then you read it or you don’t get the part,” Cameron told the young actor.

DiCaprio reluctantly submitted.

Cameron recalled how the actor “lit up” and “became Jack”, creating an electrifying chemistry with Winslet later seen clearly in the film itself.

“Titanic” opened in theaters on December 19, 1997 and went on to win 11 Oscars, including best director for Cameron.

(Posted by Carolina Farias)

Source: CNN Brasil

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