More than 25 years after the release of Titanic, lead star Kate Winslet has shared some surprising tidbits about the infamous door scene that sparked a decades-long debate.
Released in 1997, the Academy Award-winning disaster movie depicts the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio lead the film’s cast as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson, respectively — two passengers who fall in love during the ship’s doomed maiden voyage.
In one of Titanic’s closing scenes, Rose lies atop a floating door to survive the freezing Atlantic Ocean. Because the door only supports the weight of one person, Jack remains in the water and meets his tragic end. It’s a heartbreaking movie moment that riles up fans even now.
Winslet was asked about the famous scene at a screening of her new film Lee on Sept. 23 and she shed light on the experience of shooting it, People reports. The actors worked in “quite an awkward tank,” which was actually not very deep.
“To burst the bubble, it was waist height at that time ... Leo I’m afraid to say was kneeling down,” she said, before joking, “I shouldn’t be saying anyways, Jimmy Cameron’s gonna be ringing me,” referring to Titanic director James Cameron.
At the Q&A event, Winslet also recalled how difficult it was to take bathroom breaks while filming her and DiCaprio’s door scene.
“I was regularly like, ‘Can I just go for a pee?’” she continued. “Then I get up, get off the door, walk to the edge of the tank, sort of 20 feet away and I literally have to fling my leg over and climb up and come and get back on the door again. It’s terrible.”
Titanic Door Debate
In the years since Titanic’s release, fans have long debated the divisive scene, with many claiming that DiCaprio’s character could’ve also fit on the floating wood and therefore survived. Cameron revealed on Mythbusters in 2012 that he’s still contacted by fans about the scene, and explained that Jack’s death was necessary to the film’s plot.
“Maybe we screwed up and the board should have been a tiny bit smaller,” the director said. “But the dude’s going down.”
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2022, Winslet attempted to settle the debate and also conceded there may have been room for Jack. “Yes, he could have fit,” she said. “He could have fit on that door, but it would not have stayed afloat. It wouldn’t.”
Either way, the debate has brought notoriety to the Titanic door prop — so much so that the original was sold at auction for $716,750 in March 2024.
