Titanic is one of the most beloved movies of all times. It has everything you could ever wish for because its plot is concentrated on romance, drama and action! Therefore, Titanic held the title of being the most profitable movie ever made until Avatar was released.
Now that 20 years have passed since Titanic first came out, the huge blockbuster is going to be rolled in theaters once again. In order to get people excited about Titanic, Billy Zane decided to reveal some of the most ridiculous behind the scenes secrets. You will be shocked to find out what the crew had to go through when shooting some difficult scenes and how James Cameron acts around the cast.
20. Billy Zane
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Everyone remembers Billy Zane for playing Cal, who is the wealthy fiance of Rose (Kate Winslet). Billy Zane was there for the entire time James Cameron needed to shoot Titanic, including the 7 months of re-shoots. Click next to find out what Billy Zane had to say about filming Titanic.
19. Cold Waters
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James Cameron loves to make his movies feel realistic by placing the actors in the exact environment that the movie’s script describes. Therefore, Billy Zane and his co-stars were placed in freezing cold seawater for long periods. Obviously, James Cameron had to find a way to keep actors warm and you won’t believe how he did it!
18. Staying Warm
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Billy Zane says that James Cameron spread hot tubs all over the set and that actors would hop in them after every scene. What’s interesting is that they didn’t bother to take off their clothes, as you can see in the picture above.
Check out next picture to see how Billy Zane and other actors felt about this!
17. Something Normal
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At first, actors didn’t feel that comfortable to jump into hot tubs fully dressed every time the director yelled “Cut”. However, this is how Billy Zane describes what happened on set: “It became so commonplace to just keep getting in and out of hot tubs in a tux”. You won’t believe what hilarious thing Billy Zane said next.
16. Eating Hot Dogs
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After a couple of days of jumping in and out of hot tubs while fully dressed, Billy Zane says that actors started feeling more comfortable. “Then someone walks by and you just reach into a basket and you’re noshing on a hot dog in a tux in a hot tub, just deadpan, without any reaction, like this is completely normal”. People surely had a great laugh on set. Get ready because we’re going to show another behind the scenes secret that Billy Zane unveiled.
15. Flipping the Breakfast Table
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Billy Zane recalls that one of his most difficult scenes was when he needed to get angry and flip over a breakfast table next to Rose. The hard part about this is that he needed to make sure not to get Rose’s dress messy. Are you curious to find out why? Well, then make sure to stick around for the next pictures.
14. Unique Vintage Dresses
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Kate Winslet needed to wear some expensive vintage dresses to show that she belonged to a rich family and she only had two of them! Therefore, Billy Zane was not allowed to get them dirty or Rose would run out of dresses to wear. This proved to be quite difficult because Billy Zane shot this scene 7 times! Can you guess how he managed to flip the table without getting food on Rose’s dress?
13. Just One Drop!
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After shooting 7 takes of the table flipping scene, Billy Zane said the following: “I think after, like, seven takes, I got maybe one drop on one of the dresses”. This shows us how skilled actors need to be in order to nail the perfect scene. The second-unit director, Jonathan Southard, said that there was another Titanic scene which was much harder to shoot than it seems.
12. Breaking Dishes
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The second-unit director remembers a hilarious scene where some dishes needed to fly while the Titanic was breaking in half. The funny thing about this scene is that they shot the scene so many times that they ran out of dishes. Don’t forget to check out the next picture because we are going to reveal what Billy Zane said about the set atmosphere.
11. Camp-Like Atmosphere
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Even though the filming hours were harsh and difficult, Billy Zane says that the actors had a great time together during the off-hours. It seems like James Cameron gave the actors enough time to feel comfortable and he didn’t keep them filming until they were exhausted. Billy Zane also said something quite interesting about the way they were roomed.
10. Dormitory-Style Rooming
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The actors stayed in dormitory-style rooms which means that they got to hang out all the time. This helped them grow strong friendships with each other, as we can see in the picture above. This type of rooms is what helped actors sneak out of the set and do something that they were forbidden! You will be amused to find out what James Cameron didn’t want his actors to do.
9. Eating Tacos and Drinking Cervezas
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Billy Zane said that James Cameron didn’t let them hang out until late hours to drink and eat fast food. Well, according to Billy Zane, James Cameron wasn’t able to control them at all! While these behind the scenes secrets are all fun and games, the next one is nothing to kid around.
8. PCP Poisoning
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The most horrific thing that happened during the filming of Titanic was when someone poisoned the crew’s lobster chowder with PCP. More than 80 people ate the chowder and they all got poisoned! Make sure to check out what’s coming next to find out which stars managed to avoid this!
7. Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet
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The only two actors that didn’t eat the lobster chowder were Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet. Besides them, everyone got poisoned including Billy Zane and James Cameron. The worst thing about the PCP poisoning is what happened to the actors and crew members right after eating the chowder. You won’t believe what doctors forced them to eat!
6. Rushed to the Emergency Room
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“The people that went to the ER had to drink something like a liquefied charcoal, this black gunk, that very rapidly absorbed the toxins and took away the effects”, said Jonathan Southard. The most ridiculous thing about what happened is that the person who put PCP in the chowder was never found.
5. Difficult Moments Result in the Best Scenes
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While neither Leonardo Dicaprio nor Kate Winslet wanted to confirm this, Billy Zane said that all the movie’s best scenes were the most difficult to shoot. The actors were often freezing cold and exhausted. Just take a look at the next picture and see for yourself.
4. Working Until Exhaustion
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Considering how everything goes wrong after the Titanic crashes into the iceberg, James Cameron made sure that actors were put in distress so that the audience can get a feeling of how the atmosphere on Titanic was. Don’t forget to click next to find out who is the actor that made James Cameron’s heart melt.
3. Gloria Stuart
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James Cameron has a reputation for being harsh and strictly professional with his actors. However, Gloria Stuart who played the old version of Rose managed to make friends with the famous director. Stick around for the next picture to see how James Cameron almost got mad at Gloria but then quickly changed his mind.
2. James Cameron Almost Snaps
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After a long day of filming, James Cameron was tired and mad. That’s when he started shooting a scene with Gloria Stuart and saw that she was wearing red toenail polish and he snapped. The director started screaming “Gloria, what’s with the red toenail polish?”. After realizing how mad he got, James Cameron quickly said this next “It doesn’t matter, I love it!”. The next picture will truly show you how much James Cameron cares about his actors.
1. Titanic’s Final Scene
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Everybody remembers the last scene from Titanic where Rose lays down in bed and starts thinking about her love for Jack. The intriguing thing about that scene is the fact that James Cameron doesn’t say if she died or if she is simply sleeping. When Gloria Stuart asked James Cameron about what’s happening to her so that she knows how to act, he said the following “Don’t worry about it Gloria, just stay still”.