Can you believe it’s been 25 years since Kate Winslet’s Rose let Jack, the love of her life played by real-life best friend Leonardo DiCaprio, sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in one of the most frustrating scenes in modern cinema?
It feels like only yesterday Rose said, “I’ll never let go, Jack,” before doing just that when there was plenty of room on the floating door to save them both.
Titanic was James Cameron’s original blockbuster based on the real-life cruise ship that sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912.
The film turned its leads Winslet and DiCaprio into bona fide superstars overnight. It also snagged an incredible 11 Academy Awards. Still, Winslet insists, even today, that her career took a dive after Titantic, complaining that it took another eight years to be recognised for her acting chops.
“I was playing an American for the first time,” she recalled in a chat with the LA Times. “And working with Leo, who I’d seen in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and The Basketball Diaries. So it was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m Kate from Reading.’ I was the overweight girl who would always be at the end of the line … And I was in Titanic. It’s mad,” she said, calling the film a “fluke”.
Even so, Winslet still managed to get two Oscar nominations under her belt before the age of 25.
As for her co-star, DiCaprio was very lucky to score the role of pauper Jack, after rubbing Cameron the wrong way during auditions.
“There was a meeting with Leo and then there was a screen test,” Cameron explained in an interview with GQ. “The meeting was funny because I am sitting in my conference room waiting to meet an actor … I look around and all the women in the entire office are in the meeting … They all wanted to meet Leo. It was hysterical.” Then things went south, quickly. “He comes in and he’s like, every ounce of his entire being is just so negative … right up until I said, ‘Action.’ Then he turned into Jack,” Cameron noted. “I’m like, ‘All right. He’s the guy.’”
In its initial run, Titanic grossed almost $1 billion and cemented itself as one of the greatest and most-loved films of all time – apart from Jack’s drowning scene.
Where are the cast of Titanic now?
Kate Winslet
She won an Oscar in 2009 for The Reader, after earning five other nominations and one more since then. She’s married to businessman Ned Rocknroll and has three kids, Mia, Joe and Bear.
Leo Dicaprio
What hasn’t DiCaprio done since Titanic? He finally won his long-awaited Oscar in 2016 for The Revenant, in front of a tearful Winslet. An environmental activist, he’s also rumoured to be dating Gigi Hadid.
Billy Zane
Zane played Cal Hockley, Rose’s wealthy, evil fiancé. And while his character was just awful, in real life Zane is adored by his fans because of his personality and his roles in Community, Charmed and on Broadway.
Gloria Stewart
Stuart was 87 when she earnt a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for playing an elderly Rose in Titanic. She acted well into her 90s, but passed away in 2010, aged 100.
Kathy Bates
Already an Oscar-winner before landing the role of Molly Brown in Titanic, her career continues to flourish. She even reunited with Winslet and DiCaprio for Revolutionary Road in 2008.
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