Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as you’ve never seen them before: Amazing behind-the-scenes snaps from the filming of Titanic emerge 26 years after the hit film conquered the world
Incredible behind-the-scenes photos from the Titanic filming have emerged 27 years later.
The never-before-seen candid snaps were taken by an unidentified cast member of James Cameron’s blockbuster during location filming in Mexico in 1996.
The amateur footage shows fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet relaxing during a break from their famous characters Jack and Rose.
Winslet, who was only 21 years old at the time, wears the white life jacket that her character donned before plunging into the icy Atlantic Ocean at the end of the film.
Released to great acclaim in late 1997, the film told the story of the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912.
The newly built passenger ship had left Southampton bound for New York but sank after hitting an iceberg, causing the loss of more than 1,500 lives.
Incredible behind-the-scenes photos from the Titanic filming have emerged 27 years later. The amateur footage shows fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (above) relaxing during a break from their famous characters Jack and Rose
DiCaprio is seen dressed as his character Jack Dawson, a poor young artist who had won a third class ticket in a poker game for the Titanic’s voyage to the US.
Another photo shows the then 22-year-old DiCaprio talking to Cameron while wearing modern wrap-around sunglasses that don’t match his Edwardian-era outfit.
Cameron is also seen directing DiCaprio and co-star Danny Nucci – who played his character Fabrizio’s friend – for the scene where the pair run along the gangplank to board the doomed liner.
Billy Zane, who played the villain Cal Hockley, is seen resting against a vintage car and talking to Winslet.
Kathy Bates, who played the larger-than-life Molly Brown, poses for the camera with a female cast member.
The photos were taken in the Mexican border town of Rosarito, where a full-scale version of the Titanic was built for the filming.
The embarkation scenes at the beginning of the film were shot there.
Several photos show Winslet’s character impeccably dressed in a white outfit and a large hat with a camera just a few feet away.
A new-faced Di Caprio is seen during filming on the set of Titanic in Rosarito, Mexico
DiCaprio walks onto the set of Titanic with co-star Danny Nucci – who played his character Fabrizio’s friend
New Year’s Eve: DiCaprio wears modern sunglasses while dressed in his character’s Edwardian-era attire
Danny Nucci is seen on the gangplank in front of the giant reproduction of the Titanic
There are also photos showing the stern of the liner not visible to the cameras while it is on a dock.
Other images show some film characters sleeping on set during a break, while others don costumes in a giant dressing room.
There are a total of 44 photos in the archive.
They were purchased by a British collector several years ago and are now offered for sale by Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes, Wiltshire.
They have a pre-sale estimate of £1,500.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: ‘They are fantastic photographs. They offer a unique look behind the scenes of the production of the most successful film of the 20th century.
Francis Fisher is seen in character as Ruth Dewitt Bukater, Rose’s mother
Winslet is seen as Rose, walking behind Billy Zane’s character Cal Hockley
Winslet in character as Rose, in a scene from the first part of the film, which depicted passengers aboard the Titanic
The photos were taken in the Mexican border town of Rosarito, where a full-scale version of the Titanic was built for the filming.
They were purchased by a British collector several years ago and are now offered for sale by Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes, Wiltshire.
‘The great thing about these photos is that they were clearly taken by a member of the crew with his own camera. These are not professional PR photos, they are candid, amateur photos.
“The cast member seems to have taken every opportunity to take some candid photos of some of the film’s stars.
‘A very youthful Leonardo DiCaprio appears in many photos. He already starred in Romeo and Juliet, but it was Titanic that launched him and made him an A-lister.
‘It’s uncanny how closely the photo of the model of the Titanic with scaffolding underneath resembles the actual ship in the Belfast shipyard in 1911.’
The photos will be available for purchase on November 11.
We see the Titanic leaving Southampton on its doomed maiden voyage. It sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg
DISASTER IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN: HOW MORE THAN 1,500 LOST THEIR LIVES WHEN THE TITANIC SUN
The RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.
More than 1,500 people died when the ship, which was carrying 2,224 passengers and crew, sank under the command of Captain Edward Smith.
Some of the richest people in the world were on board, including real estate magnate John Jacob Astor IV, great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, founder of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Built by Belfast-based shipbuilders Harland and Wolff between 1909 and 1912, the RMS Titanic was the largest ship of her time
Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim, heir to his family’s mining company, was also killed, along with Isidor Straus, the German-born co-owner of Macy’s department store.
The ship was the largest ship afloat at the time and was designed to be ‘unsinkable’.
It had an onboard gym, libraries, a swimming pool and several restaurants and luxurious first class cabins.
There were not enough lifeboats on board for all passengers due to outdated maritime safety regulations.
After leaving Southampton on April 10, 1912, the Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland before heading to New York.
On April 14, 1912, four days after the crossing, she struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM local time.
James Moody was on night watch when the collision occurred and took the watchman’s call and asked him, “What do you see?” The man replied, “Iceberg, right in front of you.”
At 2:20 a.m., with hundreds of people still on board, the ship plunged beneath the waves, taking many, including Moody, with it.
Despite repeated distress calls and flares from the decks, the first rescue ship, the RMS Carpathia, arrived almost two hours later and pulled more than 700 people from the water.
It was not until 1985 that the wreck of the ship was discovered in two pieces on the ocean floor.