Another Jack: Titanic director explains why Leonardo DiCaprio may not have been cast

In a recent interview, James Cameron, who directed the iconic 1997 Titanic, revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio came very close to not getting the role of Jack.

The director met with GQ and recalled how negative DiCaprio was during the Titanic audition. “There was a meeting with Leo and then a screen test with Leo,” James said. “The meeting was fun because I’m looking forward to meeting the actor in my conference room. I looked around and all the women in the office were at the meeting. They all wanted to meet Leo. It was hysterical.”

James said the first meeting went well, that Leo “wondered everybody”, so he was invited to read with Kate Winslet, who had previously taken on the role of Rose.

“So he came back a few days later and set up the camera to record video,” James recalled. “He didn’t know it was going to be a test. He thought it was just another meeting to get to know Kate. I said, ‘Okay, we’re going to the next room, we’re going to go through a few lines, and I’m going to videotape it.’ And he said, ‘You mean I have to read it?’ Yeah. I said, “Oh, I’m not reading.” I shook his hand and said, “Thank you for coming.”

James continued, “And he said, ‘Wait, wait, wait.’ I was like, “Oh yeah. Come on. This is a huge project that will take two years of my life, and while I’m in post-production you’re going to walk away doing five more things. So I’m not going to ruin everything by making the wrong casting decision. So either you read it or you don’t get the part. “

James realized that Leo had reluctantly agreed to read and was annoyed until the camera turned. “So he went in and every part of his being, up to the point where I call it ‘Engine’, feels like it was very negative. He turned into Jack in an instant. Kate got hot and they played that scene. The dark clouds parted and a ray of sunlight came down and illuminated Jack. I said, “Okay. It’s the same guy.”