Kate Winslet Doubles Down & Reveals Her Take On The 'Titanic' Door Controversy

Feb 16, 2023

The love story of Jack and Rose from the iconic film "Titanic" will go down in history as one of the most passionate yet tragic fictional romances of all time. Although that story sadly ended as the film credits rolled in 1997, the relationship between the actors who brought the characters to life has continued to live on.

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio famously played lovers in James Cameron's "Titanic," and have remained incredibly close friends ever since. Winslet is most famously known for her work in independent films and period dramas, portraying strong, stubborn characters. She has gone on to receive plenty of prestigious awards throughout her career, cementing herself as a stand-out actress. Some of her most famous films include "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Finding Neverland," and "The Reader."

But perhaps still the most iconic role Winslet played was Rose on "Titanic." Despite the tragic end to DiCaprio's character Jack, many have considered "Titanic" one of the best films they have watched in their entire lives. 

Throughout the years, many fans of the film, both old and young, have asked the same burning question over and over again – would Jack and Rose would have fitted on the broken door that held the latter in the final moments of the film? 

In a chat with Josh Horowitz on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Winslet finally weighed in on one of the internet's most burning questions, after DiCaprio, in a separate interview, refused to answer it. 

Read on to learn more about whether Jack could have really fitted on the broken door, which could have saved them both in the end. 

Cameron, who was the brilliant mind behind the film, finally spoke to Toronto Sun last December 2022 to defend and clarify once and for all his creative decision to let Jack, DiCaprio's character, die at the end of the film. 

"We have done a scientific study to put this whole thing to rest and drive a stake through its heart once and for all. We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie, and we're going to do a little special on it that comes out in February," he told the outlet. 

In celebration of Titanic's 25th Anniversary on February 2023, Cameron will release the upcoming special "Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron," which will answer the most burning film question yet. 

Speaking more to the publication, Cameron confessed that Jack, in the film, "needed to die."

"It's like Romeo and Juliet. It's a movie about love and sacrifice, and mortality. The love is measured by sacrifice. Maybe after 25 years, I won't have to deal with this anymore," he admitted. 

In 2019, Celine Dion, who sang the film's theme song, "My Heart Will Go On," sat with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and weighed in on the issue. 

Firstly she said, "Rose is maybe dead or totally frozen, and she's not quite all there, okay?" and brought up a very good second point:

"Second of all, he doesn't need an invitation. Come on, baby! Make himself comfortable. Jump in. You know?" 

She also threw in a rebuttal to her own debate saying that maybe Jack was a little too cold to pull himself onto the door.

When DiCaprio was asked by Horowitz in a separate 2019 interview, he refused to voice out his take on whether his character could have fitted on the door that Winslet's character was on. Saying "no comment" despite his "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" co-stars Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt coaxing him for an answer. 

Horowitz, the host of the podcast, showed Winslet, in a December 2022 episode, DiCaprio's reaction, which also got her thinking. 

Winslet was experienced in doing water activities in her life. She revealed that she has experience in surfing, paddle boarding, kite surfing, windsurfing, scuba diving, swimming, and even cold water swimming. 

She went on to explain the physics behind balancing on a paddleboard in exchange for a door, as they had in the film. 

"If you put two adults on a stand-up paddleboard, it becomes immediately extremely unstable. If you put two adults and, say, a seven-year-old on a paddleboard – you can't it's [impossible], you can't do anything, you'll be tipping, you'll be falling in the water," she explained.  

For Winslet, if Rose had made room for Jack at the door, she thought that the viewers might be facing a more tragic ending for the film. 

"I actually don't believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door. I think that he could have fit, He would have tipped and it would not have been a sustainable idea," she clarified.

"He could have fit on that door, but it would not have stayed afloat."

Winslet's answer to the question echoes Cameron's sentiments, but it was a complete reversal of her 2016 answer to Jimmy Kimmel, where she said that they both could have actually fitted on the door. 

Have you watched 'Titanic' already? Do you think Jack and Rose could have both fitted on the same door? What do you think of Kate Winslet's explanation? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other "Titanic" fans!