To celebrate the re-release of the epic disaster drama, we explore the behind-the-scenes moments, cinematic tricks, and odd facts you may not have known about the 1997 blockbuster.
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In the scene in which Rose goes looking through the corridors of the sinking ship for Jack, the water used in the scene was from the Pacific Ocean. The water was so frigid that when Rose gasps upon diving into the water, it was the actress’s genuine reaction to the ocean water. Kate Winslet was one of the few actors who didn’t want to wear a wetsuit while filming these scenes, and after this, she came down with pneumonia.
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On August 9, 1996, around 80 crew members became ill after eating a batch of lobster chowder while filming in Nova Scotia. Police originally thought it was food poisoning, but when those who became sick started to complain of hallucinations, they took a closer look. Tests on the food came back positive for the drug phencyclidine, also known as PCP. The prankster was never caught, and none of the film’s stars ate the drug-laced chowder.
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Could you imagine a Titanic where Jack wasn’t played by Leonardo DiCaprio? We didn’t think so, but producers of the 1999 film did. James Cameron pushed for Leonardo DiCaprio to take the pivotal role, but the film’s producers wanted another leading man—Matthew McConaughey. Yes, the Matthew McConaughey. We can’t quite imagine Rose being wooed by the strong accent of the Texas native.
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Before Enya’s crooning was tainted by the torture scene in Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Cameron wanted the Irish singer to compose the score for Titanic. He even went so far as to edit her existing music to fit a rough draft of the film. When she turned it down, Cameron turned to James Horner to produce the iconic soundtrack.
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Kate and Leo had never met each other before the set of Titanic. To break the ice, Winslet did something drastic in an attempt to ease the tension for her inevitable nude scene—she flashed him.
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Gloria Stuart, the actress who played the elderly Rose Dawson, was the only person who worked on the production of the film who was actually living in 1912, the year when the Titanic sank. She even received an Oscar nomination for her role, which, at age 87, made her the oldest actor to receive a nomination. In September 2010, Stuart passed away at the exceptional age of 100.
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Jack’s character is an artist who totes a sketchbook filled with inspired drawings and passionately sketched nudes. But Leo wasn’t the mastermind behind the iconic figures; it was Cameron himself who drew everything in the book—including the infamous portrait of Rose wearing nothing but a bejeweled necklace. TITANIC, Leonardo di Caprio, 1997. TM and Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Courtesy: Everett Collection.
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In one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the film, an elderly couple is seen holding each other on a bed, while water rushes over them and floods the room as they accept their fate. This scene was written to depict a real-life couple who died on the Titanic—Macy’s department store owners Ida and Isidor Strauss.
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The film crew only had one shot to capture the scene in which water floods the grand staircase of the Titanic. With all of the furnishings and grandiose set pieces being destroyed by the rushing water, they only had a single chance to get it right.
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Robert DeNiro was in line to play Captain Smith, but had to turn down the offer due to a gastrointestinal infection he was battling at the time. And Gwyneth Paltrow was set to play Rose before the studio eventually decided on Winslet. Others up for the part included Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Jodie Foster, Cameron Diaz, and Sharon Stone.
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When Jack is preparing to draw a naked portrait of Rose, he tells her, “Lie on that bed, uh I mean couch.” The original line was scripted, “Lie on that couch,” but Cameron liked the mistake so much he decided to keep it in the final version of the film.
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The engine room in the lower levels of the Titanic proved to be a crucial set in the film as workers frantically tried to stop the ship from sinking. To make the room seem bigger and more ominous, stuntmen cast to play engine workers were only 5 feet tall. For a similar effect, the coat Rose wore while the ship was sinking was a size 8—four sizes too big. Cameron chose the oversize frock to make her character seem more vulnerable during the life-threatening scenes.
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