McConaughey and Jeremy Sisto were close to getting Jack’s role in Titanic ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia )
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McConaughey even auditioned alongside Kate Winslet. “I had a good audition. Walked away pretty confident,” he said on Awards Chatter. But, nope—no Jack for him. He was later offered the role of Cal Hockley (you know, the villain), but passed on that too.
As for Sisto? He was right there in the mix. He did multiple screen tests with Winslet and was “a little heartbroken” when it didn’t work out. He even joked about how weird it is to imagine an “alternate-universe” version of Titanic with him as Jack.
Oh, and get this—the original pick for Jack? River Phoenix. After his tragic passing, the search opened up to other names like Chris O’Donnell, Billy Crudup, and even Tom Cruise (ruled out because, well, $$$).
In the end, it was DiCaprio who sealed the deal, but it’s wild to think how different Titanic could’ve been with a McConaughey or Sisto spin on Jack, right?
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Titanic Audition Almost Sank His Chances, Says James Cameron
Leonardo DiCaprio nearly missed out on Titanic! During a GQ interview, James Cameron revealed that Leo’s audition was anything but smooth sailing. DiCaprio showed up thinking it was just another meet-and-greet with Kate Winslet. Little did he know, Cameron was ready to put him to the test.
Cameron recalled Leo was charming everyone in the room, he was far from thrilled about the screen test. He revealed: “He didn’t know he was going to test. He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate. So I said, ‘Okay, we’ll just go in the next room, and we’ll run some lines and I’ll video it.’ And he said, ‘You mean, I’m reading?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Oh, I don’t read.’ I shook his hand and said, ‘Thanks for coming by.’”
But Leo wasn’t ready to let go of Jack just yet. He came back, asking if he really needed to read to get the role. Cameron, firm as ever, responded, “This is a giant movie… I’m not going to f*** it up.”
When Leo finally got into character, it was like magic. “Dark clouds had opened up, and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack,” Cameron said. And that’s how Leo and Kate Winslet became the dream team of Titanic. The film sailed to a cool $2.2 billion and remains one of the biggest blockbusters ever.
