Leonardo DiCaprio almost had Titanic role taken away from him after he REFUSED to screen test

Leonardo DiCaprio almost didn’t get a chance to reprise his iconic role as Jack in Titanic after refusing to do a screen test with co-star Kate Winslet.

Director James Cameron, 68, recalled the audition process for the 1997 film in an interview with GQ, revealing that the heartthrob almost got fired as lead actor for Jack Dawson before he even got in front of a camera.

Cameron shared how DiCaprio, who was 23 years old when the movie came out, charmed everyone in the production office. However, the young star then refused a chemistry test with Winslet, leading the director to threaten to take the role away from the young actor.

“He didn’t know he was going to test,” Cameron said. “He came in thinking it was another meeting to meet Kate. And I said, “Okay, we’ll just go into the next room, we’ll go through some lines, and I’ll film it.” And he said, “You mean I’m reading?” and I said “Yes.” He said, “I don’t read.”

“And I said, ‘Well,’ and I shook his hand and I said, ‘Thanks for stopping by.'”

DiCaprio then replied, “Wait wait wait. You mean if I don’t read, I can’t just get the part?’

To which Cameron said, ‘Oh, yeah, come on, this is a huge movie. It’s gonna take two years off my life and you’re gone with five other things while I do the post production and all the modeling and stuff so I’m not gonna screw it up by making the wrong casting decision so you’re gonna read or you’ll get not the role.’

Cameron said DiCaprio reluctantly agreed to the screen test and had a “negative” attitude until the director yelled “action,” when he put his ego aside.

“Then he turned into Jack,” Cameron said. Kate just lit up and they played the scene. Dark clouds had broken open and a ray of sunshine came down and illuminated Jack. I’m like, ‘Okay. He’s the man.’

The epic romance went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of all time, earning $2.2 billion. The film held the ticket sales record for decades until another Cameron film, ‘Avatar’, took the place as the highest grossing film with $2.9 billion at the box office.

The actor, 48, starred in several movies before booking Titanic, including Romeo and Juliet, Total Eclipse, The Basketball Diaries and the TV series Growing Pains.

DiCaprio secured his part in the film after the screen test, but later suggested that Cameron consider writing for the role of Jack in a traumatic past.

Cameron said a tragic backstory was unnecessary for Jack and in return suggested that DiCaprio may not be ready for the nuanced role.

And I said, “Look, you’ve done all these great characters who all have a problem whether it’s addiction or whatever it is,” I said, “You’ve got to learn how to keep the center of attention and not all that stuff This isn’t Richard III.

“If you can do what Jimmy Stewart did or Gregory Peck did, they just fucking stood there. They didn’t limp or lisp or anything. Then you are ready for this. But I think you’re not ready yet because what I’m talking about is actually much harder. Those things are easier. Those are props, those are crutches… and you’re probably not ready for that yet.”

Cameron said the conversation was a reality check for DiCaprio, who was hungry for a new challenge.

“He wanted something that was difficult. And that’s been his instinct ever since and it leads to things like The Revenant, right?’ said Cameron.

“He knew how to chart a career; he wasn’t quite sure what to do at that moment. But you see how fragile that stuff is, because you try to imagine that movie without Leo or Kate, it’s very hard to do.”

Cameron also recalled being hesitant about casting Winslet as Rose.

At the time, Winslet had made several other period films, earning her the nickname “Corset Kate.”

“I was like, ‘Oh man, this is going to look like the laziest casting in the world. Okay, I’ll definitely meet her,’ but I was thinking about Gwyneth Paltrow or maybe someone else. But I met Kate and she was fantastic, she was just fantastic.’

By the time DiCaprio arrived for his chemistry screen test with Kate, her role as Rose was already secured.

Cameron enjoyed the romantic epic and teamed up with Winslet and DiCaprio on set, including preparations for the famous sunset kiss on the boat deck.

‘[We] choreographed the kiss weeks in advance during rehearsal, so we knew what we were going to do, even until I drew little lips on my hands and I showed them exactly who’s going to lead… like a football game on lips, right?’ said Cameron.

“They’re both so analytical, they loved that. So we knew what we were going to do, the question is how do we get the elements to agree.’

The director said they had to wait for the perfect moment to film the kiss on a day when it wasn’t too cloudy.

And probably 15 minutes before sunset, it just opened up and turned into these red bands and the sun was coming down from the overcast and it was like “Guys, we’re having a sunset.” Kate had to scramble from one outfit to another.’

Cameron continued, “I’ve never experienced this in my life with an actor. Kate goes upstairs, she looks at the sunset, turns to me and screams “Shoot!”

“We ended up getting two shots. One was completely out of focus and the other shot was half out of focus, and the other one that’s half out of focus is in the film.”