James Cameron recalls how Leonardo DiCaprio almost lost 'Titanic' as he refused to screen test

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio was almost turned down for his nowiconic role in Titanic due to his diva behaviourHaving led several movies and scored an Oscar nomination for 1993s Whats Eating Gilbert Grape at the time the actor acted snobbish during a meeting with James Cameron reports aceshowbizcomThe filmmaker revealed in an interview with GQ that DiCaprio refused to read during a screen test with Kate Winslet The Avatar helmer said the actor had already come for a meeting before during which he charmed everyoneThere was a meeting with Leo and then there was a screen test with Leo Cameron detailed the casting process for the 1997 movieThe meeting was funny because I am sitting in my conference room waiting to meet an actor And I look around and all the women in the entire office are in the meeting They all wanted to meet Leo It was hystericalAlso ReadMatthew Perry left his role in Leonardo DiCaprio starrer Dont Look Up due to health scareDiCaprio left a different impression during the screen testHe came back a couple of days later and I had the camera set up to record the video Cameron saidHe didnt know he was going to test He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate So I said Okay well just go in the next room and well run some lines and Ill video it And he said You mean Im reading I said Yeah He said Oh I dont read I shook his hand and said Thanks for coming by the director recalledCameron was ready to turn away DiCaprio right then and there but the actor came back to him and said Wait wait wait If I dont read I dont get the part Just like that Cameron responded Oh yeah He went on explaining how important the project would be to him Come on This is a giant movie that is going to take two years of my life and youll be gone doing five other things while Im doing postproduction So Im not going to fk it up by making the wrong decision in casting So youre going to read or youre not going to get the partAlso ReadLeonardo DiCaprio and Gigi Hadids cozy picture goes viral amid dating rumoursCameron said DiCaprio begrudgingly agreed to readSo he comes in and hes like every ounce of his entire being is just so negative right up until I said Action Then he turned into Jack he shared Kate just lit up and they played the scene Dark clouds had opened up and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack Im like All right Hes the guyWhile Winslet had already secured the female lead part at the time Cameron initially also had some reservations about casting the actress who had already done some historical films prior to TitanicAlso ReadAvatar 3 could be last movie if The Way Of Water underperforms James CameronI actually didnt see Kate at first the 68yearold admitted She had done a couple of other historical dramas as well and she was getting a reputation as Corset Kate doing historical stuffCameron was afraid that putting Winslet in the role was going to look like the laziest casting in the world He agreed to meet her in the end and thought she was fantasticTitanic ended up becoming a massive box office success collecting 22 billion worldwide It was also loved by critics scoring 14 Academy Award nominations and winning 11 of them