LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kate Winslet has opened up on working with Leonardo DiCaprio on 'Titanic.' The 48-year-old actress described DiCaprio as “magnetic” on the film's set, noting that they “clicked immediately” while working together on the 1997 hit film.
"Once I started working with Leo, we were able to kind of find our own rhythm. And it's amazing to kind of look back and think about it all over again," Winslet told Entertainment Tonight, ahead of the re-release of the film in 4K Ultra HD on December 5.
Kate Winslet said Leonardo DiCaprio 'had this effervescent energy that was really magnetic'
"He was this kind of mess of long, skinny, uncoordinated limbs. And he was just very free with himself, and he had this effervescent energy that was really magnetic," she continued. "And I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is gonna be fun. We're definitely gonna get along.' And we just really did. We just really did," she further said.
When did Kate Winslet meet Leonardo DiCaprio?
Winslet met DiCaprio in 1996 on the set of 'Titanic.' They played lovers Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson respectively.
"He was then very, very smart, very, very curious. So he was really fascinated with the period, the details to do with the boat, the lower classes, where those people had come from, how those people had paid for their tickets,” Winslet told ET as she praised DiCaprio for his way of seeing their characters. “That sense of focus on the craft and still really caring deeply about that to this day," she added.
The actress then shared that she found her “own rhythm” working with DiCaprio and that the pair “connected on so many levels” on set, sparking a friendship and mutual respect that has continued years after making the movie together.
Kate Winslet on her friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio?
Winslet said of the friendship, “We'll always just make that call right away. There's no like, 'Hang on, I'll call you tomorrow.' It's instant. And that's actually really something…if you think about it, in the world that we live in now, to have friendships that bind you, and that shared history, it's really something.”
Following 'Titanic', Winslet reunited with DiCaprio onscreen when the pair played a 1950s couple in the 2008 film 'Revolutionary Road.'
Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn't have landed the role of Jack opposite Kate Winslet as Rose
Director James Cameron revealed that DiCaprio had to "sell" the young actor to the studios at the time. "Look, we were leaning toward Leo, but I hadn't seen him do anything," Cameron told ET last year.
"And he didn't want to read [for the part]. He said, 'Oh, I don't read.' You know, I'm like, 'Well, are you a little diva? 18 years old? 19 years old?' 'No, I don't read.' Like, 'OK, really? See ya. Wouldn't want to be ya.' So, I called his bluff, right? And he went and read. And he was spectacular, of course," Cameron added.
While DiCaprio may have won Cameron over, the studio wasn't convinced. "But now, I had to sell him to the studio," the director recalled, adding "And they were like, 'Based on what? [What's Eating] Gilbert Grape? Come on, we're gonna hang this giant movie, romantic film on Gilbert Grape? Give me a break.' So, you know, then I had to talk him into it. But see, Leo wouldn't let me film [him reading]. So, I was like, 'OK, you just have to take my word for it.'"
