The enduring debate over Titanic‘s infamous door scene—whether Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) could have climbed on the door with Rose (Kate Winslet) and stay afloat —has captivated fans since the film’s 1997 release.
Now, Winslet is adding a new layer to the discussion, revealing some surprising behind-the-scenes details about filming the iconic moment.
During a recent Q&A for her upcoming film Lee, Winslet was asked (once again) about the much-debated scene. In a candid and humorous response, Winslet reveals that the water in which the pivotal scene was shot was far less dramatic than it appeared on screen.
“The water was only waist-high!” Winslet says, on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Winslet also notes how easy it was for her to step out of the tank for bathroom breaks between takes.
“I would literally get off the door, walk 20 feet to the edge, and climb out.”
Winslet even spilled a playful tidbit about her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, admitting, “Leo was kneeling down in the water.”
She jokes that director James Cameron might give her a call for revealing too much, but fans are eating up these behind-the-scenes insights.
Of course, the debate about whether Jack could have fit on the door still rages on. Fans have long speculated that Rose could have made space for him, and even Mythbusters tested the theory.
While director James Cameron and Winslet have both acknowledged that Jack might have physically fit, they agree that the real issue was survival. If both of them had been on the door, it likely would have sunk due to their combined body mass and the door’s buoyancy.
Meanwhile, DiCaprio famously chooses to not publicly speak about the debate.
“I have no comment,” the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor says.
Adam and Jamie of Mythbusters disagree: But with a caveat. In testing the theory, the two found that climbing onto the door may have proved difficult and indeed impacted the door’s ability to stay above water.
However, they found that if Rose had taken off her lifejacket and put it underneath the door, the added buoyancy would have have been able to keep them both afloat on the door. Of course, that’s if they had thought of it in a highly stressful situation and in freezing temperatures.
Despite Winslet’s playful revelations, both she and director James Cameron stand by the idea that Jack wouldn’t have survived even if he’d shared the door with Rose, putting the controversy to rest—at least for now.
Perhaps to fully immerse ourselves in movies, we might do ourself a favor but suspending our disbelief and focusing on the story at hand.
This article reflects publicly available information, and the author’s interpretations are based on those sources. Trendy Matters has no affiliation with any brand or person mentioned in this article, which is for informational purposes only.
