Kate Winslet On Kissing Scene With Leonardo DiCaprio In Titanic: 'It Was Such A Mess'

It’s been over two decades since Titanic was released, yet the chemistry between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio’s characters, Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson, remains iconic. Among the film’s many memorable moments, the first kiss between Jack and Rose at the ship’s bow is still the talk of the town. Recently, Kate Winslet revisited this scene with Vanity Fair, admitting it was “a mess" and “really cringy," and she blamed the makeup for the awkwardness. She also revealed that filming the scene was challenging because director James Cameron struggled to achieve the perfect lighting, which added to the difficulty.

She explained, “It’s quite funny. He’s quite the romancer, isn’t he? No wonder every young girl in the world wanted to be kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio. So we kept doing this kiss and I have a lot of pale makeup on and I would have to like do our makeup checks, me, on both of us, between takes, and I would end up looking as though I had been like sucking a caramel chocolate bar after each take because his makeup would come off on me and he just looked like there was a bit missing from his face because there was this big pale bit from all my makeup getting onto him. Oh God, it was such a mess."

“This might be really cringe. I couldn’t breathe in that bloody corset. This was a nightmare, because Leo couldn’t stop laughing and we had to re-shoot this about four times because of the light. Jim (director James Cameron) wanted a very specific light for this and the sunsets kept changing where we were. It wasn’t part of the actual whole ship set that we had. We had to climb up a ladder. I remember, it was sort of hair and makeup couldn’t reach us," Kate Winslet added.

Kate further explained that while Leonardo DiCaprio appeared completely natural in the scene, he had to use sunbeds and wear a lot of fake tan makeup. She revealed that during breaks between takes, she hid their makeup kit in her costume, along with brushes and sponges, so she could touch up both of their makeup during the breaks.

Kate Winslet claims that she feels very proud of Titanic, as she believes the film remains relevant and popular, even among new generations. She finds it remarkable that the movie continues to reach new audiences, with many watching it for the first time. Despite the challenging shoots, the James Cameron-directed film won 11 Academy Awards and remains one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.