Leonardo DiCaprio Almost Passed On ‘Titanic’

Is romantic leading man status, is that something you desire? I mean, you haven't necessarily done films that would take you to that level in the past. It's certainly not something I set out for. I mean, the two films that I've sort of done which have been sort of romantic leads have been, you know, Romeo and Juliet and this, were simply chosen because they were, you know, the best possible films that I saw to do. It's certainly not, you know, something I'm, the direction I'm sort of going in. I think a lot of times if you, you know, specifically target a direction that you want to go in and don't sort of take chances. I mean, for me, doing, like, doing roles like this was something completely different for me, especially being in a movie of this caliber. I've never done anything of this sort of size before and it was amazing. Were you initially reluctant to take this role? A little bit. Just because I haven't been, I don't really like sort of these gigantic, huge films for some reason. They seem to be a lot more about the special effects and less about actually a story with content, you know. But I didn't want to discriminate against this movie just because it was huge, because it was a terrific script, you know. It was a great character and then overall, you know, overall it had a lot of important things in a movie. So it was an interesting sort of thing. I, you know, took a chance and tried something different here because traditionally I've sort of done smaller, smaller films. Yeah. The love story between you and Kate Winslet's character is really what drives this film and it works so tremendously well. And I want to ask you about working with Kate. But first I want to ask you, she got ill recently, London, at the premiere. Were you there? Well, she was shooting in Morocco. She was doing another picture out there and I think she got some sort of bug and had to go away for the night. But I wish she was there because it was a royal premiere out there and we sat next to the prince and everything. It was pretty interesting, something new. But, I mean, like we went through so much on this movie. Kate and I were complete partners throughout the whole project and supported each other so much that, you know, I wish she was here for all this, but she'll be fine. She's going to get better soon. Have you talked to her? Yeah, I visited her a couple of times. She's doing, she's already better. It was, I think, you know, a lot of work and once you get something like that, it's rough. Yeah. Did you connect with her immediately once you met, you know, did you two realize, you know what, this is going to be good, we're going to be good together? I think we definitely initially said, well, wow, we respect each other's work and we wanted to do, you know, we're both big reasons why we wanted to do this picture was to work with each other too. And, you know, as soon as it became even deeper when we started doing the movie because we needed, we definitely needed, you know, a shoulder to sort of lean on and we were there for each other constantly. I mean, when you shoot a movie for up to seven months, you need, and through all the stuff that we had to do in this movie, you need somebody to, you know, vent. So we did sort of a lot of, all the complaining we needed to do we did in the trailer so we didn't need to bring it on set. But she was such a great partner and such a terrific person, really is. I mean, she's top notch. She's going to be one of the greats. She already is. Yeah, stunning. Well, both of you is a great combination, definitely. Tell me about some of the difficult parts. I mean, first of all, well, there's so many first of alls, but you spend a lot of time in the water. Is that one of the tough parts? Yeah, I mean, there was so much stuff to do in this movie. It truly was. I think the most challenging thing was it almost had two phases. I mean, there's the whole sort of, the reason why I initially was attached, fell in love with the movie was because of the whole relationship between the two characters. And we, it was sort of a phase where we sort of did that and then we moved on to the action-oriented sequences, which neither of us were used to at all. And it was almost like coming in every day with a new roller coaster to go on some sort of new adventure to do. And it was cool the first couple of times. You try it out. It's fun. I never felt like my life was in danger by any means. I mean, you had the occasional cuts and bruises, but when you go to the 50th, 60th time doing the same thing, it gets a little tedious. But that's all part of filmmaking. You've got to accept the good with the bad. Billy Zane told me he tried to come up with a storyline where maybe his character was aquaphobic and he could stay out of the water. Did you try anything like that yourself? Jack didn't have much time to be aquaphobic in this movie, I don't think. So there's a scene, I mean, there's so many scenes, obviously, when the ship is going down, but there's a scene in particular where you and Kate have to rush to the stern and you're clinging and the boat is tipping. How did you shoot some of that? I mean, how much did you two have to be involved in? It was an interesting combination because a lot of it was, you know, I mean, there was an actual ship there that was on hydraulics that went up in the air. It was, like, amazing. It went out in this completely fabricated studio in Mexico and there was a gigantic Titanic sitting there. It was, like, a huge sight to behold. A lot of it was done in real life, surprisingly. You know, some of it was computerized. As far as, like, the end sequence, which is probably the most climactic, when the ship completely goes up and down in the water, a lot of that was done for real. I mean, I remember the day we were there. I mean, it was completely surreal. We had, you know, 20 guys on bungee cords below us falling on top of each other and bouncing off girders, and then above us on a hydraulic poop deck. We were chained on. Then looking up, you see, you know, 20 cranes around you with lights and then a Jim Cameron swooping down in an elevator crane to a close-up passing you to a green screen. It's, like, unbelievable. I'm making a big movie here. Exactly. Now, you said you never really felt endangered, but when you're doing some of these scenes and, you know, water's rising up to your neck in water, did you kind of feel like you could imagine the horror the people actually went through? Absolutely. It was, I mean, you definitely got transported a lot. I mean, the attention to detail, not only in the events that happened, but everything around you was, you know, to the T. Everything was completely done up exactly how it was. And when you have, you know, a thousand screaming people around you rushing to a specific direction, your adrenaline gets going. But it was an interesting period. It was an interesting time, you know, especially with the whole class struggle that went on during the Titanic. It was really fascinating how a lot of the first-class passengers sort of were extremely arrogant and going out in all the lifeboats and left a lot of the third-class people to sort of sit there and survive on their own. It was a tragic story. Yeah, very tragic. I mean, I learned a lot watching it. I didn't know a lot of that history. Me either before I learned about the movie. Did you realize that James Cameron had this in him? Did you know his work, or what impressed you most about him as a director? Well, I'd seen his work before, and it was interesting. I mean, I think this was something completely different than he's ever done before for sure. I mean, he's done action pictures before, and I'd always noticed that in his films in the past, he always had, you know, the character development was always there in all of his movies. He paid a lot of attention to that. And I think more so in this movie than ever, you know, what the audience is connected to and attached to is these two people. You know what I mean? The sinking of the ship can be as dynamic as it wants to be, but in the end, that's what the audience is connected with and emotionally attached to and pretty much interested in. I mean, not to take anything away from the ship sinking because it's amazing, but that's what I was attracted to about the film. As far as Jim's concerned, I don't think anyone could have done this movie besides him. He's completely passionate about what he does all the time and a perfectionist. And everyone around us doing the movie had to know that their focus needed to be on what was going on constantly. I mean, it's something you have to remind people of constantly doing a movie like this because a lot of things can go wrong and sometimes did. Yeah, anything that stands out in your mind that was a really scary moment for you? Nothing. I never felt like, you know, like I said, I never felt like I was truly in danger. It was stuff where we had to submerge underwater and, you know, pop up. But while there was, like, you know, water pushing you in a certain direction, but, you know, we always had scuba guys under us with nozzles ready to save our lives. It wasn't as dramatic as it seems. I mean, it's movie making. It's not like, you know, we're daredevils or anything like that. Right, right, and it's a calculated risk. It was more of an endurance thing that, you know, to sit there and do something for two weeks at a time without, you know, going nuts is the main thing. That's a challenge. I read a quote, I don't know if you actually said this, that making this film made a man out of you. Did you say that, and what did you mean? Just in the sense that, you know, there were so many different levels to this movie. I mean, it sort of encaptured everything that a movie could sort of have in it that, you know, there was nothing that we didn't go through on this movie. So, you know, I got a true lesson in movie making and what it's like to, you know, go the distance. I suspect this film will get numerous Oscar nominations. I'm sure you've heard that already. You and Kate included in that. Would that, in a sense, kind of be a nice reward for the intense effort it took to make this film? Of course, it would be wonderful. It would be wonderful. I mean, actually seeing all of it put into sort of when it's actual reality in front of you and you're watching all those months of work on screen, you know, you're definitely emotionally attached to the film. You know, this movie sort of went beyond even filmmaking to me. It's like from another world, this film. So, you know, it was a completely new experience for me. I've never done anything close to it. Would you do something like this again now that you know that experience? Not for a while. I think I'm going to go back to the little ones for a while. Something small, no effects. Yeah, for a while, yeah. We'll see, but you never know, you know. When you look at your career, I mean, you've done a lot of great work in a very short period of time, and even looking back to, you know, you started out on sitcoms, Growing Pains. When you think back on that, what comes to your mind from that experience? I learned so much from every bit of work that I've done, and you think of the choice. I mean, only now am I able to sort of look back at, you know, the beginning of my career. It takes you, for me at least, it takes me a while to sort of reflect on everything, you know. Like right now, everything is completely surreal and unrealistic, and I know years from now I'm able to sort of look back and see what was really going on, you know. And now I'm able to sort of look back at the beginning of my career and the stuff that I learned, and, you know, it was all new and sort of fresh to me, and that's an important thing to sort of maintain. I mean, that's what I think a lot of, how a lot of great movies and performances are made, when, you know, you take a chance and try something different, you know, and grow as an individual and as an actor. You feel you know a lot more about the work now that you've learned a lot in the last few years? Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I've had a great education as far as, you know, doing movies is concerned from the roles that I've done. It's been, you know, like an acting college or something. You've worked with some great people. De Niro, what, a couple of times? Meryl Streep. Yeah. You take something from each of those? I try my best to, that's for sure. I mean, I'm usually, you know, working with people like that of that caliber is like unbelievable. You just have to sit back and sort of, you know, you definitely take things from them, I'd say, more unconsciously than anything else. I mean, I never deliberately say, okay, now how do they do this? Because I think each person has their own process, you know, whatever works for them they should sort of do. But I definitely learned a lot of different things just by watching them and seeing how they take chances, you know. I mean, that's what makes them terrific is the fact that they're constantly challenging themselves and, you know, taking chances in their work. You got an Oscar nomination at 19 years old, and as I said, this may very well bring another one. When you look at 19 and now 23, did you feel like, wow, this is happening too fast the first time it happened? Yeah, I mean, not too fast. I was happy about it, you know. It was a trip. I mean, I think I still have that mind frame. This is all, you know, like I said, it takes a while to sort of look at things for what they are. And, you know, I still have the same attitude, thank God, about what I want to do career-wise, which is to just, you know, keep learning as an actor and trying new things. And, you know, I don't want to get stuck doing the same type of thing over and over again. I mean, this is my life, and I want to make it exciting, and especially in my career, I want to take chances. Yeah. Jack in Titanic is a very heroic type of character, yet it seemed to me you, to a degree, didn't overplay his heroism. Did you make a choice to, you know, kind of make it a little more low-key, not to go for a full-out, you know, hero? Well, it was actually a challenge because, you know, playing somebody so sort of open-hearted and honest and, you know, basically a kind guy with no demons or no internal struggle, which is what I'm sort of used to playing, was a real challenge for me. I mean, you have to sort of swallow your pride a lot of the time and face being vulnerable and being, you know, pure, which is not exactly the easiest thing in the world, surprisingly, is what I'd learned in this movie, you know, to be just a normal human being with no major problems to fall back on that you can constantly say, you know, as an actor, well, you know, he's going through this, so that defines that. But when you have none of that and you need to just be an open book for someone, you know, it's difficult. Yeah. Is it still difficult to you to have a normal life? Something else I read that you'd said a while back about you realize you can't just be normal, that you have to lead a somewhat sheltered life, and, you know, every time you go out somewhere, people make a big deal about it, but you're only 23. That's what 23-year-olds go out. Yeah. The truth is, you know, it's something you have to sort of accept. There's always negative things to every part of, you know, life. There's the good and the bad, and you take the good with the bad. I certainly think that I'm going to still go out and do the same things I've always done, even if it will be, you know, not as easy as it was before, just because, you know, mentally, you know, I need that. I need to sort of do the stuff that I've always done and go to the places that I've always gone. And, you know, a hat, you know, reduces the chances of being recognized sometimes, and sometimes it does the trick. I can go out for a whole day and not be recognized once. Yeah. Really? You can still do that? Yeah. At least up to this film. Yeah. Well, we'll see after this. Yeah. Do you realize, I mean, do you look at this film and realize, this is going to be part of history? I've made a history-making movie here. Absolutely. I mean, the Titanic has a lot of sort of, it's a classic story. It's a real classic story in history. I mean, it has a lot to do with man's arrogance, you know, which is really interesting to me. It has a lot to do with man's, you know, blind fate that we're putting in technology. I mean, it was the Industrial Revolution at that time. Man was, like, kicking into full gear, making, like, the biggest ship in the world and making a proclamation to the world that they could, you know, build a ship that was unsinkable, that couldn't sink. And they sent it out to sea. And tragically, it struck an iceberg and had tons of casualties because they were, you know, ignorant to what was out there. It's almost religious in a sense, you know, like the apocalypse or something. And the whole thing that happened with the third and first-class struggle where, you know, first-class passengers got a great chance at survival and the third class had to sort of sit there and deal with their own fate. And it's got a lot of huge themes. And it's maintained its fame throughout these years because of that, I think. And also there's been such mystery about it because nobody ever really knew what happened that night until recently, you know. So it's propelled as one of the great American tales, I think.