Do you know Titanic could’ve been made with Matthew McConaughey, Gwyneth Paltrow | Hollywood

James Cameron’s 1997 cult romance Titanic has completed 25 years since its release. The Oscar-winning film starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the memorable roles of Jack and Rose respectively. But the film could’ve had a different lead pair of A-listers instead. (Also Read: Internet furious at Netflix for re-releasing Titanic after submersible Titan tragedy. Here’s what we know)

If not Kate Winslet, then who?

Kate Winslet wasn’t the only face James Cameron had in mind while casting Rose in Titanic. He was also considering Academy Award-winning actor Gwyneth Paltrow for that role. In an interview with GQ, James revealed that he initially thought casting Kate as Rose would be a ‘lazy’ move.

Kate was already a known face in the genre of historical dramas. She had already starred in Michael Gottlieb’s A Kid in King Arthur’s Court (1995), based on a Mark Twain play, Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995), an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, Michael Winterbottom’s Jude (1996) as a 19th-century British woman, and Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Hamlet (1996) as Ophelia.

In the interview with GQ, James says, “So I thought ‘Oh, man, this is going to look like the laziest casting in the world.” But the director did end up meeting Kate and offering her the part of Rose. In an interview with US Weekly, Gwyneth also admitted that she had almost closed in on the role of Rose. “I think I was really in contention for it — I was one of the last two,” she said.

If not Leonardo DiCaprio, then who?

While the competition wasn’t as tight or close as far as the role of Jack was concerned, there was a slight possibility to see another A-list star play that role, instead of Leonardo. In the podcast Literally! with Rob Lowe, actor Matthew McConaughey revealed that he auditioned for the part back then.

“It was one of those ones where they, like, followed me and when we got outside they were like, ‘That went great.’ I mean, kind of, like, hugs. I really thought it was going to happen,” Matthew said in the podcast. Can you imagine Titanic with these new leads?