Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet became inseparable on set, joking and laughing through the intense filming. So close, in fact, that even today they quote Titanic lines back and forth in text messages. Those little gasps, smiles, and smirks? Totally real – and totally unforgettable.

Winslet had a few simple rules for DiCaprio

As you all know, the chemistry between Leo and Kate was off the charts, and it shows behind the scenes too.

But Winslet reportedly had a few simple rules for DiCaprio before their kissing scenes: no coffee, no onions, no garlic, and no smoking. He agreed… then cheekily broke every single one. Winslet affectionately nicknamed him ‘Stinky Leo,’ and he even snuck his tongue into a kiss from time to time just to make her laugh.

Inside the casting chaos

Eager to land the role of Rose, Kate Winslet didn’t hold back. She sent producer James Cameron daily notes all the way from England, flew to Los Angeles, and called him constantly. “You don’t understand! I am Rose! I don’t know why you’re even seeing anyone else!” she reportedly pleaded. When Cameron finally cast her, she sent him a rose with the note: “From Your Rose.”

Cameron wanted the cast to truly feel like they were aboard the Titanic, to capture its energy and “take that energy and give it to Jack … an artist who is able to have his heart soar.” While big names like Matthew McConaughey, Chris O’Donnell, Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff were considered, Cameron thought they were too old to play a 20-year-old. Tom Cruise was interested, but his asking price was too high, and Jared Leto refused to audition. Jeremy Sisto screen-tested with Winslet and three other actresses, while Mark Wahlberg, Ethan Hawke, Christian Bale, and Paul Rudd also auditioned—but Cameron ultimately passed.

Leonardo DiCaprio, just 21 at the time, was brought to Cameron’s attention by casting director Mali Finn. Initially, he didn’t want the role and even refused to read his first romantic scene. Cameron recalled, “He read it once, then started goofing around, and I could never get him to focus on it again. But for one split second, a shaft of light came down from the heavens and lit up the forest.” Believing in DiCaprio’s talent, Cameron added, “Look, I’m not going to make this guy brooding and neurotic. I’m not going to give him a tic and a limp and all the things you want.”

How Winslet persuaded DiCaprio

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio first crossed paths at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. Winslet knew DiCaprio had auditioned for Titanic but was unsure about taking on the role of Jack Dawson herself. Determined, she tracked down his hotel room to talk him into joining the film. “I was thinking, ‘I’m going to persuade him to do this, because I’m not doing this without him,’” she recalled.

Despite the film’s massive success, both DiCaprio and Winslet have later expressed embarrassment over their performances. Winslet admitted her American accent was “awful” and that her acting “could have been better,” while DiCaprio called himself a “young punk” in the film.

Truth about the nude scenes

Before filming the iconic “Paint me like one of your French girls” scene, Kate Winslet found a playful way to break the ice with Leonardo DiCaprio. Knowing she’d have to be nude in front of him, she decided to flash him during their first meeting.

“She had no shame in it. She wanted to break the ice a little beforehand, so she flashed me. I wasn’t prepared for that, she had one up on me. I was pretty comfortable after that,” DiCaprio once revealed.

Winslet, who isn’t shy about nudity, performed the scene herself without a body double. Suddenly, that legendary moment takes on a whole new layer of behind-the-scenes mischief.

Around 1 hour and 26 minutes into the film, fans might not realize that the hands sketching Rose aren’t DiCaprio’s — they actually belong to director James Cameron. A lefty, Cameron mirror-imaged the shots in post-production so the artist would appear right-handed, just like DiCaprio.