Kate Winslet is working double-time for her Wonder Wheel Oscar nomination that probably won’t come. Kate is everywhere for this film and no one else seems to be promoting it. Ah well, good luck to her on her hustle. One thing Kate will never not be asked about is Titanic, which is actually good for two reasons: 1) many people still love Titanic and want to hear about it and 2) there seems to be a lot of information we still have yet to learn. Every time Kate talks about the film, she has new stories to tell. She was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and he asked her some audience questions regarding the movie. One of them was about the fact that Matthew McConaughey was a frontrunner to play Jack (which I guess was known but I’d never heard that). Kate divulged, though, that she actually auditioned with Matthew for the role.
All right, all right, all right! Kate Winslet just dropped a major “Titanic” bombshell!
The Oscar winner stopped by “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Thursday to answer some of the staff’s burning “Titanic” questions, including whether Kate almost starred opposite an actor other than Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Paramount wanted Matthew McConaughey for the role of Jack but [James] Cameron insisted on Leo, how would that have changed things?” Colbert asked.
“I auditioned with Matthew, isn’t that weird? I never said that in public before!” Kate replied.
Kate does not elaborate on how she thought Matthew would have fared in the role, which is probably wise on her part. I don’t know, it’s hard to think of anyone else in that role but when pressed, I could see Matthew as Jack as much as I could Leo. I have a confession though, I only half liked Titanic. I thought the stuff about the ship was great but the love story didn’t do anything for me. So, they could have cast Billy Zane as Jack and I’d have felt the same.
Something else Kate said was that the famous sketch of Rose drawn by Jack in the movie was actually drawn by James Cameron himself. She said she posed for him to sketch it but she wore a bathing suit. That’s kind of cool. Here is the clip where she is talking about it. I am including it because at the end, Stephen and Kate perform an alternate ending to Titanic that seems like it’s impromptu and is kind of cute:
Photo credit: WENN Photos, Getty Images and YouTube
Praise Jesus that stupid accent of his didn’t make the cut… y’all.
He’s from Texas 🙁 a lot of us sound like that.
I’m a Texan. LOL All my life, never lived in any other state, trust me, I can lay it on thick. But normally, my diction doesn’t capitalize. I’m a major eye roller for those who very clearly ‘use’ their southerness. Matthew, in his younger years especially drove me crazy. Funny how maturity can level one out. Okay except Paula Dean. Ew. Haha.
A lot of us Southerners sound like him and say y’all.
Would people make similar negative comments about Aussie or other distinctive accents and dialects? I personally appreciate differences. Think of famous people like Dolly and Reba, who are well liked. I think our perception may depend on what we think of the person.
I’m from Texas too and I’m not convinced Matthew’s accent is ever actually found in nature. He lays it on so thick. Isn’t he from Uvalde?!
@KBB I think he definitely milks the accent. He is from Uvalde. But I know at least one guy that talks like him! Especially in the ranching community. His brother has a ranch and I think he talks like that too. I don’t have an accent but… I know a lot of people who do.
And for some people is really hard to lose or change their accent. Good for Matt for having it made as an actor despite his particular accent.
It’s also true that Brits or Aussies get cast as Southerners all the time.
Didn’t love Titanic. Just never got the hype. I thought either Kate looked to old or Jack looked to young to have have this adventurous life. Just didn’t buy this epic love scene. I hated that they threw that gem in the ocean. It didn’t belong to Rose at all. Why she kept it was beyond me. I never understood that. She basically stole it. But ok to those that love it so much.
Kate and Leo were a physical mismatch, in my opinion.
And yes–that necklace (remember they sold copies of them, too, as part of the movie marketing) was given to her by the fiancé she hated, so why the sentiment around it on her part?
Time for Kate to stop bringing up this movie all the time.
I agree – no chemistry and Leo looked way too young for her. But the film was obviously huge and to this day there seem to be countless people still invested in ‘Rose n Jack’ (not to mention the bizarre ‘Kate n Leo’ fan fic) so clearly we are in the minority.
But you can’t complain about Kate bringing up the movie all the time. She gets asked, she answers. It’s what people want to know about – certainly more than Wonder Wheel! – and she would get a ‘diva’ rep if she refused the questions.
I agree about the mismatch, but it still kinda worked. As far as the necklace, she didn’t take it on purpose (it was as in the pocket of her fiancé’s coat that he himself put on her), and I think she kept it because she felt connected to Jack through it (she wore it when he did the nude sketch) not the fiancé. The movie was definitely a phenomenon beyond comprehension, but I found it enjoyable for the most part.
They were the same age when the movie was filmed, Leo just had a baby face during the 90’s. Regarding the necklace, her fiancé gave it to her…and then he killed himself. It was hers. She didn’t want anyone to make money off of it, so she laid it to rest above Titanic’s resting spot where it belonged.
Yes, I was a fanatic.
Sorry for the bad english here but I’ll try to explain myself: There were many deleted scenes that Cameron should have kept – having watch them my perspective of the movie changed A LOT. I think now it was quite feminist, it was not really about romance but about a woman becoming the version of herself she wanted to be, and the fact she in the end was a self made woman, became the artist/travel person she wanted to be. She did sculptures (there’s a whole scene where she talks about wanting to be an sculptor! all cut out, but on youtube if you want to watch). The way I see it, old Rose said in the deleted scene she kept the diamond in order to prove to herself “she could make it without Cal”. Because it was really all about that, in the end. She was an edwardian woman escaping from an abusive fiance and women usually didn’t do that, they were not independent, but she was. Jack was kind of a manic pixie dream boy that helped her become herself… I don’t think Cameron is wonderful but I have to agree he usually writes interesting women (Sarah Connor, for exemple). So Rose, to me, is certainly the most interesting thing in this movie and awfuly overlooked
Jeremy Sisto was almost Jack as well – there’s actually videos of him doing scenes on youtube.
What is going on with her face? She cant barely move a muscle there?
I think she looks better than I’ve seen her in a while. But her frozen face thing has been going on for a few years now. No judgement intended – can’t imagine the pressure actresses must be under in that Hollywood cesspool.
lt looks as if she had an eye lift which hasn’t yet settled. Or bad injections – one eye tilts up too much.
I always thought the movie was just a massive special effects display with the “storyline” designed to get the characters into position for the next batch of rushing water, glittering ballrooms or whatever. I thought it was a good escapism bit of fun, but I never liked DiCaprio (and even less now) and Winslet is now cancelled.
This comment is spot on. It was a great movie in that it recreated the ship & all the period things were amazing. The staircase alone would have made me pay to see it on the big screen. The rest was meh. Winslet & DiCaprio are totally overrated for that movie imo.
I think Matthew McConaughey would’ve been great as Jack! It is true that Leo just looked too young, it made the love scenes so not hot.
MM has a masculine presence that would’ve made the drawing and the car scene better.
But yes Jamie42 the necklace thing was weird. She did pretty much gank it and then later drop it into the ocean knowing all those people were looking for it 😂
Also: I was a teenager working in a movie theatre when this came out. I still remember it as being the biggest thing ever in those days. So so so many people came to see it. Some dressed up in period costumes, others brought what they said were real artifacts from the ship.
Though I can’t bring myself to watch it again it holds a special place in my heart.
I loved the movie and make no apologies for that.
But MM? No.
Same!
@ Minx-Me too, definitely no apologies, lol. Rewatched it at my sister’s on Thanksgiving weekend-ahhhhh, I’m such a slobbering romantic-started ugly crying when poor Jack disappeared into the sea and howled at the end when the doors to the ballroom opened and they showed everyone who perished smiling & so happy to see her.
“Jack Dawson saved me in every way a person CAN be saved”…
💟💟💟SWOOOOOOON 💟💟💟
BTW, I’ll be 58 next month, ha ha …
I’ve still never seen that movie all the way through. Parts here and there. Leo looks like a baby and it was waaaay to popular. I hated the idea of it and all the hype so I could never see it. Same way Star Wars, a movie franchise I mildly enjoyed, is dead to me now.
It think it would have been a completely different movie. I don’t think it would have been a huge hit with him as Jack.
The release and marketing 20 years ago was so over the top.
I remember going and wondering why the duo’s love story and theme song were talked about so much. The most memorable parts to me are probably different than most viewers’, or scenes considered iconic.
As for MMc – I think he had the charm to pull off that role in 1997.
So interesting! Matthew 20 years ago (or whenever it was) was playing heartthrob parts right? Would have been a totally different movie. I am from Texas (actually same area as MM) and I feel like he’s branded SO Texan now that I can’t see him playing someone from New York. Leo did seem so young in titanic. He seemed younger than Kate. But I didn’t care when that movie came out. Not at all.
Would have loved Christian Bale in that role though! Or maybe Keanu Reeves?
Yes, Christian Bale would have been divine. Not a Leo fan. I think I would have preferred a lot if guys over him.
I remember reading the studio want Matthew and Goop. Matthew turned the role down in Titanic to work with Spielberg on Amistad, which flopped. I wonder if he regrets it.
James Cameron is a talented artist….that’s what I took away from this. He can really draw. And I believe there were other sketches shown in th movie – we can assume he did those, too.
Directing the movie was such a huge undertaking, with a punishing schedule, I’m impressed he was also able to contribute sketches.
I heard about that Cameron tidbit a long time ago. Only I didn’t know she was posing with a bathing suit.
I think he studied art so he does know how to draw!
Anyone else made uncomfortable by the questions he was asking her? So many of them were focused on her nude scene. Like, c’mon, grow up, obviously that’s going to make her feel vulnerable. It wasn’t HER, it was a character she was portraying. They shouldn’t have focused on that so much.