Filmmaker James Cameron has recently spoke about how the Titanic hero Leonardo DiCaprio could have missed the role of Jack as he refused to audition for it . James had reportedly told the actor, “You’re going to read, or you’re not going to get the part.”
Speaking to GQ Magazine the director said, “I remember there was a meeting with Leo. And then there was a screen test Leo. The meeting was funny because I am sitting in my conference room waiting to meet an actor, right? And I look around and all the women in the entire office are in the meeting, for some reason. Like, there’s a female executive producer, OK, fine. But our accountant? Why was she in the meeting? They all wanted to meet Leo. It was hysterical. I looked around, and I went, ‘I think I already know the answer to the question here.’”
The award winning filmmaker also said that Leonardo “charmed everyone” in the very first meetup however the screen test needed to be done to witness and measure the level of chemistry between Jack and Rose played by Kate Winslet. “He came back a couple of days later, and I had the camera set up to record the video,” James said. “He didn’t know he was going to test. He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate. So I said, ‘Okay, we’ll just go in the next room, and we’ll run some lines and I’ll video 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, ‘Thanks for coming by.’”
This is when the actor realized that the reading the script is essential and compulsory. “Wait, wait, wait. You mean, if I don’t read, I don’t get the part just like that.” the actor inquired. James Cameron elucidated, “a giant movie that is going to take two years of my life and you’ll be gone doing five other things, while I’m doing post-production and all the model work and everything. So I’m not gonna f*** it up. I’m making the wrong decision in casting, so you’re gonna read or you’re not gonna get the part.”
However the interruptions came to a halt when the director said action and as the latter recalled the Leonardo “turned into Jack and Kate just lit up and they went into this whole thing and he played the scene. Dark clouds had opened up, a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack. I’m like, ‘All right, he’s the guy.’”
Titanic went on to become a historic movie of the century by wining eleven coveted Oscars and the highest grossing movie to date. As of now it ranks in the third slot as the third highest-grossing movie garnering $2.2 billion at the box office.
