When you hear the names “Jack and Rose”, it’s hard to picture anyone other than Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet playing the iconic Titanic duo.
The roles constituted both actors’ arrival on the film scene and made them household names amongst audiences. Both would eventually go on to have stellar careers featuring many award nominations and an Oscar apiece.
But, it seems, the plan was not always Winslet and DiCaprio. Claire Danes has revealed that she was originally offered the role which ultimately went to The Reader actress.
The Homeland star had previously worked alongside DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet, so producers already knew they had chemistry.
“I had just made this romantic epic with Leo in Mexico City, which is where they were going to shoot Titanic,” Danes said. “And I just didn’t have it in me.”
The 40-year-old has no regrets, though. “I was really clear about it. I wasn’t conflicted,” she said. “It was going to propel me to something I knew I didn’t have the resources to cope with. I knew I had to do a lot of foundation building.”
It all worked out in the end as Danes is now supremely successful in her own right.
