Titanic: Kate Winslet’s gift to James Cameron to convince him to give her the role of Rose

Are you ready to get your tissues out? For its quarter century, titanic is back on the big screen! On February 8, 2023, James Cameron’s great classic will be released in cinemas in a restored 3D HDR AND HFR version. A way to find the mythical couple formed by Rose and Jack and to rediscover their love story. Proof, if one were needed, that the film has marked viewers in France, but also those around the world: in France, it remains number one in terms of number of admissions (with 21.77 million viewers) and ranks 3rd in the worldwide box office of all time, with $2.2 billion in box office receipts. Just that ! The feature film with Leonardo DiCaprio (Jack Dawson) and Kate Winslet (Rose DeWitt) is also the most awarded film at the Oscars with 11 statuettes, tied with Ben Hur. For the 25th anniversary of the film of all superlatives, James Cameron, accompanied by his producer Jon Landau (with whom he has worked on numerous films, including Avatar and of course, titanic) agreed to once again discuss his work. An interview organized during a virtual press conference organized on Thursday February 2, 2023, to which Tele-Leisure was able to attend. The director, who recently explained why Jack had to die at the end, notably told how Kate Winslet managed to convince him to take her to play the role of Rose.

“At first, Leonardo DiCaprio was not interested in the role of Jack”

“When we cast Kate on Titanic, she was 19”begins James Cameron. “Leo was around 20 years old. They were young! They were on their way to a great career. We shouldn’t take all the credit for launching their careers. Leo had already done Romeo + Juliet and Kate had made appearances before too. We were lucky to catch them at this time in their lives. But we can say without exaggeration that we have taken them to another level. At first, Leo wasn’t that interested in the role of Jack. I heard he thought the movie was boring. It’s not true. He didn’t think he was boring, he thought the movie was cool. But he felt that his role did not offer him enough challenges. He wanted to have a problem to deal with, he wanted to vent his rage. And it wasn’t on the page. I had to convince him that his character was the more emotionally mature of the two. Tell her that there was a transfer of energy in this love affair and that thanks to this, Rose was growing. It was only when I explained to him the challenge of this character that he showed interest. But at first he thought it wasn’t hard enough. This shows the fragility of the casting process!”

“After the audition Kate Winslet texted me with a red rose”

James Cameron continues, regarding Kate Winslet’s auditions: “Finding the right Rose was complicated. We saw a bunch of young actresses. Kate was one of them. She showed a lot of interest, enthusiasm for this character. She was sure she could do it. But I was not convinced.” And the director of titanic to continue, with honesty: “I was a little nervous that she had acted in several historical dramas before. She had the reputation of being ‘Kate the corseted’. And I didn’t want the corseted Kate to be in a movie where one of the most memorable scenes shows her trapped in a corset… Which of course was a symbol of the character being limited by society, by her family. So initially I almost didn’t want to see Kate Winslet. But I ended up meeting her and she was spectacular. She was simply Kate. We gave it a try. We put a dress on her, we did her hairstyle, her make-up… We also wanted to test her accent. Could she do all this?” Obviously, the filmmaker needed more time to make his decision. Which prompted the actress to force fate by sending her a surprising little attention… James Cameron resumes: “After her audition, she messaged me with a red rose, writing on the note: ‘I am your Rose’”. I said ‘Okay, Kate, we get it, you want to do this, but we’ll make our own decision’ (laughs). Kate has a very energetic personality, she shows her will to the world around her and it shows, now she produces her own films… She was very enthusiastic, anyway, when she came out reading with Leo. Of course, I’m neither blind nor stupid: I could see the chemistry between them. After that she insisted saying ‘It’s the good, it’s the good!’ Pure Kate.”