Kate Winslet doesn’t remember fondly her steamy kiss with Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.
While talking about the film’s iconic “I’m Flying” scene in which she and DiCaprio stand on the bow of a ship, Winslet admitted that it looked romantic on screen, but behind the scenes it wasn’t like that at all.
“Oh my goodness, he’s such a romantic. No wonder every young girl in the world wants to be kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio,” Winslet said. “It wasn’t what I expected.”
The Oscar-winning actress said filming the scene was a “mess” and blamed a variety of factors.
Kate Winslet speaks out on 25th anniversary of Titanic, and says James Cameron “traumatized” her with the film.
Kate Winslet has joked that kissing Leonardo DiCaprio while filming Titanic was a bad idea. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
Contributing factors included the dress being too tight and making it difficult to breathe, her foot hitting the boat’s railing several times, and her being too far from the crew for the hair and makeup team to reach her.
Because they “had to climb a ladder” to get onto the set, Winslet had to hide her makeup and brushes on one side of her jacket and DiCaprio’s on the other, and adjust her makeup between takes.
“We kept kissing, and I was wearing a lot of light makeup, so we both had to check our makeup between takes, and after every take his makeup would come off and he looked like he was licking caramel chocolate,” she recalled. “My makeup would get on him and it looked like his face was a little washed out.”
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Aside from the technical issues, director James Cameron had a very specific vision for the scene, which required multiple takes to get it just right.
Kate Winslet explained that she and Leonardo DiCaprio’s makeup had to be touched up between takes. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
“This was a nightmare,” she explained. “Leo couldn’t stop laughing and we had to do about four retakes. [James Cameron] Of course, this required very specific light, and where we were, the sunsets were constantly changing.”
In the 1997 film, Winslet and DiCaprio played Titanic passengers from different social classes who fall in love and fight to stay together after the ship sinks. The film was a huge hit, winning 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and earning Winslet her first Best Actress nomination.
Although filming the famous scene was a “nightmare,” Winslet can look back on her overall experience making the film as a positive one.
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“I’m very proud of this film because I feel like it’s something that keeps on giving,” Winslet said. “There’s a whole other generation of people discovering it or seeing it for the first time, and there’s something special about it.”
Kate Winslet is proud to have been a part of such a big, influential production as “Titanic.” (Photo by HAL GARB/AFP via Getty Images)
One of the film’s lasting impacts on Winslet’s life is that “without fail” whenever she’s on a boat, people ask her to re-enact the famous scene, saying it “gives her a headache.”
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