Kate Winslet... flashed Leonardo DiCaprio: 5 things you didn't know about Titanic.

I was 16 when I watched Titanic, and yes, like so many other teenagers during that time, I was completely in love with Leonardo DiCaprio. I wanted to stand on the bow of the ship with him and put my hands out and say, "I'm flying! Jack! I'm flying!" I wanted to hang around with him in a car on the ship, if you know what I mean, wink wink.

Yes, I'm a walking cliche. Yes, I'm old. Yes, I think DiCaprio's lost a lot of his attractiveness due to his "I will not date anyone above 25 years old except if that person is 27-year-old supermodel Gigi Hadid" rule.

Still, 25 years after the movie came out, there's just something about it. Lately, there have been some interesting tidbits of information coming out about Titanic, courtesy of director James Cameron, so we thought we'd compile a list of things about the film that you probably, maybe, don't know. Or maybe you do but still want to read about it, anyway.

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Here are five things you didn't know (maybe) about Titanic.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio almost didn't get the iconic part of Jack.

The best thing about James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water is the stories he's telling about Titanic while on the promotion trail. In his recent interview with GQ, Cameron revealed that DiCaprio almost didn't star in the film that catapulted him to fame because he didn't want to read for the part.

"He came back a couple of days later [after the initial meeting], and I had the camera set up to record the video. He didn't know he was going to test. He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate [Winslet]," Cameron explained. "So I said, 'Okay, we'll just go in the next room, and we'll run some lines, and I'll video it.' And he said, 'You mean, I'm reading?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Oh, I don't read.' I shook his hand and said, 'Thanks for coming by.'"

Of course, DiCaprio was taken aback. But Cameron told him that the film was "a giant movie that is going to take two years of my life" and that he wasn't going to "f**k it up by making the wrong casting decision". DiCaprio had two options: read or leave. He wisely decided to read.

Still, that doesn't mean he wasn't a fusspot about it. 

"He comes in, and he's like every ounce of his entire being is just so negative... right up until I said, 'Action.' Then he turned into Jack. Kate just lit up, and they played the scene," Cameron told GQ. "Dark clouds had opened up, and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack. I’m like, 'Alright. He's the guy.'"

2. Rose and Jack were almost... Gwyneth Paltrow and Matthew McConaughey?

As the rumour goes, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matthew McConaughey were in talks to star in Titanic but then things fell through. Can you IMAGINE what the film would have been like with Paltrow and McConaughey as the leads? No, neither can I.

"I will neither confirm nor deny," Cameron said of the rumour, which just means it is true. "I just don't think that's cool to talk about actors that either chose not to do it, or were unavailable, or stupidly decided that there wasn’t enough meat on the bone of the character, or whatever it was."

I see what you did there, Mr Cameron.

Someone who we KNOW auditioned for the part of Jack is Jeremy Sisto, who I call the "Rollin' with the homies" guy from Clueless. Sisto told HuffPost Live he was heartbroken not to get the part. 

"It was exciting to be a part of the process. To be involved in something that had that kind of scope – anything James Cameron does has this huge scope to it. He's trying to push the limits on things. So I was just insanely inspired by it and a little heartbroken when the role didn't come my way."

3. Winslet flashed DiCaprio. For a good reason.

The scene where Jack is drawing Rose like one of his "French girls" is one of its most sensual (well, for a teen girl anyway). It was also the first scene to be filmed and, for its two leads, it was understandably a bit awkward.

So, Winslet decided to break the ice. By opening up her robe and letting DiCaprio see her in all her naked glory.

The two burst out laughing, and all was well in the world. Awkwardness gone.

Another fun fact: since DiCaprio can't draw to save his life, the hands used to show Jack sketching Rose are actually Cameron's.

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4. Winslet improvised spitting in Billy Zane's face.

Poor Billy Zane. Imagine showing up to work and thinking you're going to have a good day hanging out with your pals Cameron, DiCaprio, and Winslet, only to have someone spit in your face.

When they were filming the scene where Zane's character, Cal, grabs Rose's arm and does not let go, apparently Winslet was supposed to free herself with a hairpin (I mean, how? Was the hairpin a knife in disguise?), but instead totally deviated from the script. She improvised by spitting in Zane's face. So the shock and disgust you see in the scene is genuine because the actor did not expect it at all.

5. DiCaprio didn't want to say his iconic line.

Leo, Leo, Leo. You were a cheeky bugger, weren't you? 

Back in 2019, Cameron told BBC's Movies That Made Me that he had made up DiCaprio's famous line "I'm the king of the world" on the spot.

"I was in a crane basket, and we were losing the light," Cameron explained. "I had tried this, and we had tried that, tried this line and that line and it was just coming up snake eyes. And I said, 'All right, I've got one for you. Just say, 'I'm the king of the world', and just spread your arms out wide and just be in the moment and just love it and just celebrate it and love it.' And [DiCaprio] goes, 'What?'"

Despite the actor's reluctance, Cameron convinced him to "just f**king sell it."

And as we've seen, he f**king sold it.

Feature Image: 20th Century Fox.