Leonardo DiCaprio Wasn't First Choice To Play Jack In Titanic

Leo DiCaprio's Jack in 1997's epic Titanic is an iconic role in an iconic movie. It's almost impossible to imagine the lovable scallywag without Leo's floppy hair and boyish face.

But Leo's role in the film was almost a cinema legend that never came to pass, according to a new interview with his Titanic co-star Kate Winslet.

Speaking on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Winslet revealed that the actor she auditioned with was actually Paramount Pictures' first choice, Matthew McConaughey. Really?

"I auditioned with Matthew, isn't that weird?" Winslet told Colbert. "Never said that in public before. I auditioned with Matthew, which was completely fantastic. It just wouldn't have been the whole, Jack and Rose, Kate and Leo thing."

However, the film's director, James Cameron, insisted on casting Leonardo DiCaprio in the role instead - a decision which has turned out to be absolutely the right call, of course.

Can you really imagine Jack with a Deep South drawl?

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Even though it's now 20 years old, Titanic is clearly still a massive source of fascination for many.

That's why the film took up a large chunk of Colbert's interview with Winslet even though she's promoting her role in the latest Woody Allen film Wonder Wheel.

Elsewhere in the interview, Winslet admitted that she got hypothermia in the Titanic scene in the water, saying she was "really fucking cold".

She also admitted covering her son's eyes during the 'draw me like one of your French girls' scene. Good job, as no kid wants to see their mum in that way.

Of course, one of the most enduring controversies about Titanic is whether Rose really needed to let Jack perish in the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cameron has recently said Jack's death needed to happen for artistic reasons, but Winslet has jokingly admitted being a snake.

"In the famous line, you say 'I'll never let you go, Jack', but... You do!" Colbert said.

"I lied, I know," Winslet said. "I lie. I fully lie. I hold my hand up. I let him go. Plus, he just should have tried harder to get on that door."

The pair then tried to fix the ending with Winslet climbing on Colbert's desk to recreate the scene - with Jack asking if he can climb on the floating door, too.

A bigger injustice than letting Jack die would have been for Leo DiCaprio not to be in Titanic at all. Let's just be glad that at least that didn't happen. Even though Rose should have still let Jack on.

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing before completing his NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. Chris has previously written for the independent culture magazine The Skinny, among other publications.

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