Near-death experiences, hypothermia, and an icebreaker no one saw coming. Oh,
and then there was that time the whole crew was drugged.
One of the most bizarre things to happen on the "Titanic" set happened while filming the framing
narrative centered around Bill Paxton's character Brock Lovett and his search of the wreck of the
Titanic. Marilyn McAvoy — a background painter who worked on "Titanic" — spoke to Vice about
the incident, which occurred in 1996 when some cast and crew sat down to enjoy a clam chowder
lunch. There was only one problem: It was spiked with PCP. Those affected — including
James Cameron and actor Bill Paxton — were rushed to the hospital. Both Kate Winslet and Leonardo
DiCaprio were spared this eventful dinner, since they weren't required for this Canadian shoot.
"And he said, 'Well did you eat the clam chowder?'
And I thought, 'Well yeah, I had a couple of bowls,' and about that time I started feeling it."
Marilyn McAvoy recalls how the evening began, with people going for seconds and thirds of the
chowder because it tasted so good. Everyone was having a lot more than they usually would. Soon
people started tripping, and once they realized what was happening, Cameron allegedly went up to
his room to make himself throw up and stop the hallucinogen from taking over. McAvoy described
how the crew was in the hospital all night, as some people were having a bad trip. She said,
"It became pretty chaotic. ... People had a lot of energy. Some were in wheelchairs,
flying down the hallways. ... People were playing hacky sack."
Bill Paxton also opened up to Larry King about the incident,
describing the hospital scene that night in much the same way.
"You see some people are freaking out, some people are congo dancing, some people -
"What happened to you?"
are euphoric."
"I knew I was pretty stoned."
On her end, McAvoy said it all seemed like a dream, and that her experience
wasn't too bad. Unfortunately for the crew, they never caught the perpetrator,
resulting in that entire night going down as one of the weirdest on-set moments.
Once the Titanic sinks, Jack freezes in the frigid waters, but Rose manages to stay alive
and flag down a nearby boat looking for survivors. It's a tragic ending,
but Rose's shivering tears weren't pure acting. It was cold as hell in that water.
In 2017, Kate Winslet appeared on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert"
and revealed that when shooting this scene in the water, she got hypothermia.
"Yeah, I was really f—ing cold!"
She further explained that, even though this was all supposed to be pretend movie magic,
there was so much water that the crew couldn't heat it all up. Hey,
maybe if DiCaprio had just climbed up on that piece of wood to keep her warm… nah,
nevermind. There's no way there was room for him. No possible way.
It turns out, Kate Winslet suffered quite a bit during filming. In a 1997 interview
with The Los Angeles Times, Winslet revealed a variety of injuries she got on set: bruises,
gashes, and a chipped elbow. She also described the moment when she almost drowned during one
scene. What makes this even more bizarre is the fact that Cameron didn't notice
and kept directing, as he was completely oblivious to her near-death experience.
The scene in question takes place when Rose and Jack are running through the ship as
water is gushing in. They try to find an escape route, but soon get trapped in by a closed gate,
with water pouring in on them. Once the scene was cut, the production team opened the gate
to allow DiCaprio and Winslet through. However, her coat got caught on the iron bars and she was
submerged in the water. Winslet described the experience to The Los Angeles Times, saying,
"I had no breath left. I thought I'd burst. And Jim just said,
'OK, let's go again.' That was his attitude. I didn't want to be a wimp so I didn't complain."
"Well, I'm fine. I'll be fine, really."
Although Cameron realized a few minutes later that Winslet was feeling shaken by
the experience, he wanted to get back into it and shoot the scene again,
comparing it to getting back on a horse after a fall. The show must go on, after all.
For many, the staircase in "Titanic" is an iconic symbol of Rose and Jack's love. Early in the film,
Jack waits for Rose at the bottom of the staircase to escort her to dinner
with her family. He's blown away when he sees her looking fancy and beautiful,
and the romantic tension between them is palpable. In the final scene of the movie,
Rose passes away and the staircase appears again, reuniting her with Jack and all of the
others lost on the Titanic. Both are beautiful and emotional moments, as they show the journey
of Jack and Rose's relationship, culminating with their final embrace in the afterlife.
However, behind the scenes of this romantic tale is a puzzling story.
In 2017, Cameron reflected on his time filming "Titanic" in National Geographic's "Titanic:
20 Years Later with James Cameron." When looking back at the iconic staircase, Cameron recalled,
"The staircase has got a steel footing, then when we sank the ship, it lifted. Wood is
buoyant. It ripped off that footing and it all floated up, and it actually pinned two
stunt players. Fortunately, they weren't hurt, but it was a pretty scary moment."
The staircase was built to replicate the actual grand stairs that were
aboard the famous vessel, so perhaps it brought some of its bad luck with it.
Brett Baker — Leonardo DiCaprio's photo double in "Titanic" — spoke to Vanity Fair
in 2016 about his experience making the film. Baker was a struggling actor and was thrilled
to join the project, even though the role wasn't exactly what he'd trained for. As a photo double,
Baker's job was to silently take DiCaprio's place in shots where you couldn't see his face
to give the star a break from more tedious work. Baker's presence in "Titanic" is undetectable, but
he remembers how nervous he was to meet Cameron for the first time since he is both shorter and
older than DiCaprio. Luckily, Cameron believed he looked enough like DiCaprio that it would work.
Baker looks back fondly on his time on the "Titanic" set, saying most actors don't get
their big break starring in one of the biggest films of all time. Plus, the photo double life got
interesting thanks to all of the teen fans waiting by the studio gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of
DiCaprio. During the filming of "Titanic," the Leo-craze was in full swing. Security would usher
DiCaprio out the back to avoid the fans, and Baker would be brought out front for everyone to gush
over, turning him into a real-life photo double for the star. As Baker recalled to Vanity Fair,
"[The fans] went berserk. Screaming, looking inside the window, waving their pieces of
paper for an autograph. ... I don't know if anyone knew that was going on at the gate every morning."
At least he got his own little fan club during filming.
Actors have been known to take things from set from time to time. Think of it less as
stealing and more as holding on to a piece of memorabilia that commemorates the time they
spent filming. It's understandable when one goes through blood, sweat,
and tears to make a film that they feel like they deserve a little
something for their troubles ... aside from their massive paycheck, of course.
Winslet did almost drown and get hypothermia. Maybe it's fair to say that she wanted to take
a little something extra on the way out. In an interview with The New York Times,
she revealed that she likes saving things from sets,
and during "Titanic," she snagged some jewelry. She explained,
"I did take a pair of Rose's earrings, but somewhere I lost one."
It's a fitting story, since "Titanic" itself is framed around a search for lost
jewelry – a necklace that, of course, gets lost in the ocean at the end.
It's no secret that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have enjoyed a decades-long
friendship. Ever since starring as star-crossed lovers in "Titanic,"
the two have freely shown each other their admiration and support over the years. A
decade after "Titanic," the two starred in the post-war romantic drama "Revolutionary Road."
Winslet talked about her friendship with DiCaprio in an interview with The Guardian,
noting that they've known each other for half their lives. She said,
"He's my friend, my really close friend. We're bonded for life."
Winslet won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in 2009 for
"Revolutionary Road" and gushed about her co-star in her off-the-cuff speech.
For his part, DiCaprio has described how Winslet broke the ice between the
two right off the bat. In the official behind-the-scenes book of the film,
Ed W. Marsh's "James Cameron's Titanic," DiCaprio shared their bizarre first encounter that did
just that. The first scene he shot was the one where he draws naked Rose. DiCaprio explained,
"[Winslet] had no shame with it ... She wanted to break the ice a little beforehand, so she flashed
me. I wasn't prepared for that, so she had one up on me. I was pretty comfortable after that."
A 1998 Rolling Stone profile on Winslet detailed how things snowballed from there,
with Winslet and DiCaprio spending the rest of the shoot pranking each other
and forming a very comfortable relationship. Winslet explained,
"We were kind of the two goofy kids on the set [...] We’d do the most
ridiculous things to each other. He’d be tickling me, groping me,
winding me up. And I’d be doing the same thing back, sort of grabbing his bum."
DiCaprio discussed the seriousness of their friendship on set as well, saying,
"She was my best friend for seven months. We’d unload the stresses of the shoot to each other,
vent to each other, watch out for each other. Kate
was just the perfect person to work with because she was very much one of the guys,
and it would have been much harder without her. We were partners."
"Oh that was better. You gotta work on it. Really
try and hawk it up and get some body to it. You know, you gotta…"