The actor did not want to audition because he already saw himself prepared for the role of Jack Dawson: "Thank you for coming," James Cameron replied.
In the world of cinema, many have been films that viewers remember with longing, although there are only a few that survive the passing of the years, such as 'Titanic'. James Cameron's film has become one of the most famous in the history of the big screen, and that is also due to its protagonists, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
But, it should be noted that all of this could not have happened because of the latter, and it was James Cameron himself who told in an interview with 'GQ' (broadcast by 'EW') how the famous actor was about to get lost this great project after having already starred in other projects such as 'William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet'.
The then-young star was very close to going down in history due to the rejection of the role that has finally led him to the top of Hollywood, and that is that everything happened in a meeting that he had with Cameron and that turned out to be the most surreal in the face of the expectation that the interpreter generated: “There was a meeting with Leo, and then there was a screen test with Leo. The meeting was funny because he was sitting in my conference room, waiting to meet an actor. I looked around and all the women in the office were in the meeting for some reason. There was an executive producer, yes, okay, but our accountants? They all wanted to meet Leo. He was crazy”.
DiCaprio didn't want to audition
Cameron needed to verify that DiCaprio was the best for the role of Jack Dawson, and for this reason, he asked him to audition, something that did not sit well with the actor: "I don't read." A few words to which the director responded by saying goodbye: "Well, thanks for coming." "Wait, wait, wait. If I don't read, I don't get the part. Is that so?" replied the interpreter.
It was there that James Cameron went on to tell him that this was a very important project for him: “It is a film that is going to take two years of my life. You'll be doing five more things while I'm in post-production. So I'm not going to screw it up by making the wrong casting decision. You are going to read, or you will not have the part”.
In the end, DiCaprio auditioned and wowed Cameron: “Every iota of his being was totally negative until I said ‘action’ and he became Jack. Kate lit up and he played out the scene. The black clouds parted, and the rays of the sun came down and illuminated Jack. I thought, 'Okay, he's our man.'"
