Leonardo DiCaprio’s audition process for “Titanic” hasn’t been smooth, according to director James Cameron. The Oscar-winning director shared a retrospective video interview for GQ magazine and recalled how DiCaprio originally refused to read the part of Jack vs. Kate Winslet during a screen test. Cameron told the young actor, “You’ll read, or you won’t get the part.”
“There was a meeting with Leo and then there was a screen test with Leo,” said Cameron. “The meeting was funny because I’m sitting in my conference room, waiting to meet a representative. And I looked around, and all the women in the entire office were in the meeting. They all wanted to meet Leo. It was hysterical.”
DiCaprio “charmed everyone” at his first meeting, but the screen test turned out to be much more controversial. By the time Cameron prepared DiCaprio’s screen test, Winslet was already closed to playing Rose.
“He came back two days later, and I had the camera set up to record the video,” Cameron said. He didn’t know he was going to audition. He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate. So I said, ‘Well, we’ll just go to the next room, we’ll play some lines and I’ll film it.’ And he said, ‘You mean, I’m reading?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said: Oh, I don’t read. I shook his hand and said, ‘Thank you for coming by.'”
Cameron was ready to turn DiCaprio off right then and there, but the actor walked back at him and said, “Wait, wait, wait. If I don’t read, I won’t get the part? Just like that?” Cameron replied, “Oh, yeah. Come on. This is a giant movie that’s going to take two years of my life, and you’re going to do five more while I do post-production. So, I’m not going to screw it up by making the wrong choice of casting. So, you’ll read, or you won’t get Section “.
“So he came on, and he’s like every ounce of his whole being so negative — until I said, ‘Work.’ And then he turned into Jack,” Cameron concluded. “Kate just lit up, and they played the scene. The dark clouds opened up, and a beam of sunshine came down and lit up Jack. I’m like, ‘Okay. He’s the guy.'”
Buoyed by DiCaprio and Winslet’s chemistry, Titanic would become the highest-grossing movie of all time during its run. The film now ranks as the third highest grossing film with $2.2 billion at the box office, not adjusted for inflation.
Watch Cameron’s full video interview with GQ magazine below.
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