The story of star-crossed lovers who meet on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic, James Cameron’s Titanic has gone down in filmmaking history as one of the most romantic, haunting, and cinematically impressive movies of all time, and said to cost more than the ship itself! Even more than 20 years later, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t seen Titanic.
Playing the leading role of Rose DeWitt Bukater, a rich girl who falls in love with a boy from the third class while she’s engaged to someone else, Kate Winslet became a household name after starring in the film. She has since gone on to have a stellar career in the film industry with a long list of well-earned awards and accolades under her belt (even though she missed the Titanic premiere!). While she wowed audiences with her performance, she seems to hold a different opinion of her portrayal of Rose. Keep reading to find out what Kate Winslet really thinks of her Titanic performance.
She Hated Her Accent
There are a few things that Kate Winslet regrets about her Titanic performance. A lot of how she really feels about her iconic portrayal comes down to the accent she used. While her character Rose DeWitt Bukater was an American teenager living in the early 20th century, Winslet herself was born in Reading, in Great Britain. So to play the part of Rose effectively, she had to put on a specific American accent that wasn’t natural to her. And how does she feel about her American accent?
“I can’t listen to it. It’s awful,” she told The Telegraph (via Cheat Sheet).
Although Winslet reportedly can’t stand this part of her performance, the majority of fans would beg to differ. Many people couldn’t even tell that she wasn’t really American!
She’d Like The Chance To Do It Again
In the same interview with The Telegraph, Winslet made it clear that it wasn’t just the accent she took issue with in her performance. She called the entire performance awful and even expressed a desire to re-do it now with the skills she’s gained since.
“Every single scene, I’m like, ‘Really, really? You did it like that?” she said (via Hollywood.com). “Hopefully it’s so much better now. It sounds terribly self-indulgent, but actors do tend to be very self-critical. I have a hard time watching any of my performances, but watching Titanic I was just like, ‘Oh god, I want to do that again.’”
She Was Nervous About Her Nude Scene
In one of Titanic’s most famous scenes, Kate Winslet’s character Rose takes off her robe so her love interest Jack Dawson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) can sketch her. Though the scene is now iconic, one of the things that Winslet recalls from filming Titanic is that she was “absolutely nervous” about filming her nude scene.
She revealed that she found the strength to go through with it after working with fellow British film star Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility. “I had worked with Emma Thompson, who is a very physically open and relaxed person,” Winslet explained (via Entertainment Weekly), “and I had seen her do nudity and, you know, it was a part of the story.”
The Press Gave Her A Hard Time
Today, Titanic is remembered as one of the most iconic movies in history. But at the time, the press had a lot of negative comments to make about the film, even before it was released! It’s possible that the negativity she encountered in the press also caused Winslet to second-guess her performance.
I think I was aware of all that negativity and I remember being quite upset by that ‘cause all I had done was quite innocently gone off and done a job and worked really hard and I was really excited about this film and all the lovely friends I had made,” the actress recounted (via Entertainment Weekly). She went on to say that she was baffled by “how sometimes the media can create a story around something before it’s even been given legs … or had a chance to walk or breathe.”
The World Disagrees
It’s not uncommon for artists to be especially hard on themselves, even when their audiences totally approve of their performances. Kate Winslet has come a long way since Titanic, so it’s understandable that she looks back at that early point in her career and cringes. But the world seems to disagree with her stance on it!
Despite the negative press that emerged before the release of the film, Winslet later received a Best Actress nomination for her performance as Rose. The film also arguably made her a household name.
