Although the humongous success of Titanic pushed Kate Winslet to superstardom, the process of crafting the critically acclaimed project nearly got the actress in serious trouble. Even decades after its release, Titanic remains one of the most important works in James Cameron’s illustrious filmography, and its impact on pop culture is second to none.
But bringing this vision to the big screen was a daunting task for the crew and cast members, especially lead Kate Winslet, who almost drowned during the filming process, as she refused to complain.
Kate Winslet refused to complain despite almost drowning during Titanic‘s production
Throughout the entirety of the film’s production, Kate Winslet kept on battling several health concerns, including hypothermia, due to the extremity of the filming conditions. But despite suffering several injuries during the filming process, the actress didn’t complain even when things escalated during the shooting of the scene, where Jack and Rose are trying to outrun an oncoming wave. According to Winslet, she almost drowned during that sequence, but she didn’t bother troubling Cameron. She recalled,
“I had to sort of shimmy out of the coat to get free. I had no breath left. I thought I’d burst. And Jim just said, ‘OK, let’s go again.’ That was his attitude. I didn’t want to be a wimp so I didn’t complain.”
However, Cameron, who was fiercely driven in keeping the movie appear as real as possible, failed to notice the actress’ discomfort, claiming, “It didn’t come to me until about 10 minutes later”.
James Cameron would do it again if he had to
Working with the likes of James Cameron is a challenge in itself, as the director pushes actors to their limits in order to get the best result possible, and in the case of Kate Winslet, things were no different. Considering the actress refused to complain about facing difficulties, it took a while for Cameron to realize that she was shaken, as she was stoic and didn’t express she didn’t want to continue. However, keeping in mind this was a close-up shot, where the director couldn’t shift to a body double, he expressed he’d probably do it again to keep things as real as possible.
“If you have a spill on a horse, you just get right back on the horse,” He said. “This was [a close-up shot and] not a situation where she could be doubled. If I had it to do over again, I would probably do the same thing.”
And after two-decades since their time together in Titanic, the duo reunited in Avatar: The Way of Water, only for the actress to again end up underwater. But this time Winslet was ready for every challenge, and even manage to beat Tom Cruise’s record of holding his breath underwater for the longest, as the Titanic Star held her breath for an impressive 7 minutes and 47 seconds in Avatar 2.
Titanic is available to stream on Disney Plus.
Source: Los Angeles Times
