Leonardo DiCaprio Refused To Do Screentest For Titanic, Director James Cameron Recalls What Happened Next ( Photo Credit – Instagram; IMDb )
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American epic romance and disaster film Titanic, which was released in 1997, became one of the most iconic films in the international film industry. The film established both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s acting careers in Hollywood. The film fetched them several awards and accolades.
James Cameron, who helmed the iconic film, is now gearing up for Avatar: The Way of Water which is the sequel to the 2009 film. As the filmmaker is on a promotional spree, he has now revealed that Leonardo initially refused to give a screen test for his role in the 1997 film. Scroll down to know more.
During a conversation with GQ magazine, James Cameron said, “I remember there was a meeting with Leo. And then there was a screen test Leo. The meeting was funny because I am sitting in my conference room waiting to meet an actor, right? And I look around and all the women in the entire office are in the meeting, for some reason. Like, there’s a female executive producer, OK, fine. But our accountant? Why was she in the meeting? They all wanted to meet Leo. It was hysterical. I looked around, and I went, ‘I think I already know the answer to the question here.’”
The Academy Award winning director went on to reveal how Leonardo DiCaprio charmed everyone in the very first meeting. Cameron also admitted that he too was charmed by the actor, however, the question about the screen test was important as he felt to see the chemistry between him and actor Kate Winslet.
“He came back a couple of days later, and I had the camera set up to record the video,” James Cameron said. “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.’”
At this time Leonardo DiCaprio realized that the reading was compulsory and asked James, “Wait, wait, wait. You mean, if I don’t read, I don’t get the part just like that.” To which the Titanic director explained to him, “a giant movie that is going to take two years of my life and you’ll be gone doing five other things, while I’m doing post-production and all the model work and everything. So I’m not gonna f*** it up. I’m making the wrong decision in casting, so you’re gonna read or you’re not gonna get the part.”
