Titanic: The Actors Who Almost Played Jack & Rose
Titanic lives in the memories of many thanks to its big production and its main characters, Jack and Rose, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, but the now iconic pair could have been very different. James Cameron has earned a privileged spot in the film industry thanks to his sci-fi and epic films that go from full science fiction (such as The Terminator) to action comedy (True Lies), and in 1997 he brought a combination of romance, drama, and disaster film in Titanic, based on accounts of the sinking of the famous ship.
The film followed Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Winslet), two passengers from different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Titanic was a big critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film ever at the time, until it was surpassed by another work of Cameron’s (Avatar, in 2010). The film was nominated for a number of awards, and famously received 14 Academy Award nominations, of which it won 11, including Best Picture. Titanic was praised for its production design, direction, visual effects, and the performances of its lead couple.
DiCaprio and Winslet became a fan-favorite pair, and are very close friends off-screen, so it’s hard to imagine a different couple as the leads in Titanic, but they weren’t Cameron’s first choices, and the roles of Jack and Rose were initially offered to other actors.
Matthew McConaughey Could’ve Played Jack In Titanic
Before Leonardo DiCaprio was cast as Jack Dawson, many actors were considered, but Cameron felt that most were too old to play the role of a 20-year-old. Among those were Matthew McConaughey (who was also offered the role of Cal Hockley, played by Billy Zane), Chris O’Donnell, Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff. Another actor Cameron was interested in was Jared Leto, but he refused to audition. Meanwhile, Jeremy Sisto actually auditioned and did a screen test with Kate Winslet and other actresses that were in consideration to play Rose, but it didn’t work. Tom Cruise was also interested in the role, but his asking price was too high. Finally, DiCaprio was brought to Cameron’s attention by casting director Mali Finn, and the rest is history.
Gwyneth Paltrow Could’ve Played Rose In Titanic
As for Rose DeWitt Bukater, the role was offered to Gwyneth Paltrow, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Gabrielle Anwar, and Reese Witherspoon. After they all turned it down, Kate Winslet began to campaign for it, sending notes to Cameron until she was invited to audition. Even after her screen test, Winslet continued campaigning for the role, and sent Cameron a rose with a card signed “From your Rose”. Her talent and persistence are what ended up convincing Cameron to cast her, and it was a very wise decision. While there are a lot of aspects from Titanic that deserve all the praise they got, it surely wouldn’t have had the same impact it had if its lead actors had been different, as there’s something special and truly unique in the chemistry between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
