Casting What-Ifs
Jeremy Sisto read opposite Kate Winslet in her screen test; Matthew McConaughey was in contention for Jack; Stephen Dorff was passed over for Jack; Chris O'Donnell was mentioned for Jack; Rob Lowe was in the mix for Cal
In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:22Read transcript
- Kate Winslet had to do a screen test, watchable online, opposite Jeremy Sisto, Elton from Clueless, who auditioned but probably was not in contention; the major name in contention for Jack Dawson was Matthew McConaughey.
- Stephen Dorff is the verified one: a New York Daily News piece headlined 'actor is thankful he didn't get Titanic role' has the Blade co-star saying he wanted a career like Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson and an Oscar, which Titanic would have made impossible, and that Leo will always be the guy on the boat.
- One host disagrees that Leo is the guy on the boat, since he has been in so many hits and everyone has a favorite Leo, whereas Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are more locked into their 90s work; Sofia Coppola is said to have made Somewhere with Dorff because he never blew up, and Titanic will be in the first line of DiCaprio's obituary, and of Billy Zane's.
- Billy Zane has not done much anyone has heard of since, though he has been in three times as many films as Kate Winslet.
- Chris O'Donnell, named on Wikipedia for Jack, would have been a great and adorable Jack given his Batman movies and a season-two television arc, but could not have taken the film past a billion dollars; Leo is singular and the chemistry is enduring, though he seems strikingly innocent and little in it.
- Rob Lowe was in the mix for Cal and is a great asshole, as in St. Elmo's Fire; pre-West Wing he might not have pulled viewers out of the film, though one host says he would have a little, and the leads mostly had blank or clean reputations at the time, which the hosts think mattered.