Kate Winslet on ‘feud’ with James Cameron after filming Titanic

Kate Winslet and James Cameron have opened up about rumours of a rift between them. Photo / AP

Kate Winslet wasn’t director James Cameron’s first choice when it came to casting Rose DeWitt-Bukater in Titanic.

It’s one reason many have speculated over the years that Winslet and Cameron didn’t get along - but now in a new profile of Winslet for Variety, both have set the record straight.

While Cameron admitted that choosing Winslet for the role “seemed like lazy casting” at the time, he told Variety that thankfully “wiser heads prevailed, and I could see what everybody was talking about.

James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet filming Titanic.

“She’s very alive. She comes into a room with a great deal of confidence, and she’s got that spark of life.”

Comments Winslet made after Titanic was released seemed to signal a feud between actor and director.

But as she told Variety: “There’s a part of me that feels almost sad that stupid, speculative Titanic stuff at the time overshadowed the actual relationship I have with him.

“He knows I will be up for anything. Any challenge, any piece of direction you give me? I’ll try it.”

Cameron added: “There was never a rift between us”, adding that if anything, Winslet remained emotionally attached to the character and her experience on the film.

“She had a little postpartum depression when she let go of Rose. She and I have talked about the fact that she goes really, really deep, and her characters leave a lasting, sometimes dramatic impression on her,” he added.

Titanic made US$2billion at the box office and turned its stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into household names.

Winslet and Cameron went on to reunite on the set of Avatar: The Way of Water, released in 2022, in which she played Na’vi diver Ronal.

Back in 2020, a behind-the-scenes look at filming put Winslet’s newly-acquired free-diving skills on display.

Producer Jon Landau shared a snap on Instagram of the actress posed at the bottom of a water tank in a flowing cape while filming for the long-awaited sequel.

Kate Winslet showed off her free diving skills in a shot from the filming of the Avatar sequel. Photo / Supplied

Elsewhere, Winslet revealed that she can hold her breath for more than seven minutes since learning free-diving for the New Zealand-shot film.

And she revealed that it was “so wonderful” to be working with Cameron again.

“Time has changed him. Jim has become a father a few more times over. He is a calmer person. Chilled. You can just feel him enjoying it more this time.”