Kate Winslet rewatched some of her favorite on-screen career moments, and had a lot to say about the epic scene in the “Titanic” that might surprise fans.
Winslet said the highly referenced “I’m flying” scene in the movie that shows her kissing co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t as romantic as it appeared. “Oh my Lordie!” she said, as she watched the scene unfold on a television set in a clip for Vanity Fair. “Oh, this was a nightmare shooting this,” she said.
“Leo couldn’t stop laughing, and we had to reshoot this about four times because the light- the light- Jim wanted a very specific light for this, obviously, and the sunsets kept changing where we were,” she said, making reference to director James Cameron. Winslet went on to describe a very strange make-up incident that reeked havoc on the filming of the scene.
Winslet identified a number of awkward moments she encountered while filming what appears to be a simple scene at first glance.
“Kept bumping my knees on that third railing,” she pointed out, as she recalled the experience while the scene played out in the clip for Vanity Fair.
“See I look at that and I just see how much I couldn’t breathe in that bloody corset,” she said.
“My God, he’s quite the romancer, isn’t he? No wonder every young girl in the world wanted to be kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio,” Winslet quipped, before adding a side-bar comment, saying that it was “not all it’s cracked up to be.”
She went on to explain how their makeup made the kiss challenging to film.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 03: Leonardo DiCaprio attends the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/WireImage,) Getty Images
“We kept doing this kiss, and I’ve got a lot of pale makeup on and I would have to do our makeup checks – on both of us, between takes – and I would end up looking as though I’d been sucking a caramel chocolate bar after each take because his makeup would come off on me,” Winslet said.
She noted her pale make-up wound up on DiCaprio, which made it look like “there was a bit missing from his face.”
“Oh God, it was such a mess,” she said.
Winslet said the scene was filmed on a part of the ship that make-up artists weren’t able to easily access, and explained how she took matters into her own hands by handling the matter herself.
She said she had DiCaprio’s “makeup and brushes and sponge and my makeup and brushes and sponge” hidden in parts of her dress, and motioned to the camera to identify where she stashed the touch-up equipment.
“And between takes, I was basically redoing our makeup,” she said.
In spite of the challenges, the movie went on to win 11 Oscar Awards and is considered a classic. (RELATED: ‘Horrible’: Kate Winslet Says There Was A Downside To ‘Titanic’ Success)
“I do feel very proud of it, because I feel that it is that film that just keeps giving,” Winslet said.
“Whole other generations of people are discovering the film or seeing it for the first time, and there’s something extraordinary about that.”
