Kate Winslet reveals Titanic's door scene was shot in 'waist-height' tank: 'Leo is, I'm afraid, kneeling down'
Kate Winslet is revealing Titanic's film magic.
Kate Winslet.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in 'Titanic'.
In an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Lee actress discussed filming the final scene in which Rose floats on a door fragment as Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack freezes — and how the conditions weren't nearly as dangerous as they appeared on screen. "That was quite an awkward tank, that one, because — to burst a bubble, it was waist-height, that tank," she said. "Leo is, I'm afraid, kneeling down on the bottom of the tank."
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Winslet stated that the tank's flexibility made it easy for her to take frequent restroom breaks. "I was regularly like, 'Can I just go for a pee?'" she recounted. "And then I'd stand up, get off the door, walk to the edge of the tank, which was 20 feet away, and actually have to swing my leg over and climb out of the tank to urinate, before crawling back on the door. I know it's awful to admit these things."
Paramount
The tank repeatedly recirculated water, causing considerable auditory difficulties during the sequence. "The thing that was amazing about the edges of the tank was that it was an infinity tank, so there was constant water rushing, and you could hear the constant sound of water," Winslet explained, noting that the performers had to re-record their lines after filming was finished. "Which, let me tell you, everybody, implies that the final 22 minutes of that film are completely looped. Everything was absolutely looped. I assure you, since you could hear the water sounds the entire time."
The actress feared that her statements would get her in trouble. "I shouldn't be saying any of these things," she told me. "Jim Cameron's gonna be ringing me, like, 'Why are you telling them all that?'"
Winslet also mentioned missing several opportunities to see the picture when it was released in 1997. "When it premiered in London, I was really unwell," she told me. "I suffered serious food illness and was actually hospitalized in London. It was utterly bizarre. And then, when it came out in the United States, I was attending my boyfriend's funeral. "I mean, it's a terrible thing to think about right now," she said of the loss of her former lover Stephen Tredre. "So I sort of missed everything around the release of Titanic, which, I don't know, is that the universe's way of protecting me from something, or just reminding me to do the things that matter."
The actress ultimately saw Titanic in New York, where there was a crowded auditorium. "I snuck in with two friends, and that was where I saw it for the first time," she recalled. "I remember thinking, 'Oh my God. It's crowded. That's strange. The theater is full. I'm in one of those movies where everyone fills every seat. "That was strange."
