There was a time when Titanic’s Kate Winslet said, "You'd have to pay me a lot of money” to work with James Cameron again. Winslet and Cameron, of course, initially worked together on Titanic and, after that, Winslet made comments about Cameron's alleged temper. But 25 years later, she was cast in Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, where she wore full-motion capture gear and did crazy underwater scenes. While Cameron and Winslet are cool, the director did have some thoughts on the comments made about him.
Based on behind-the-scenes fact about Titanic, the film's production was stressful. With long hours of filming in the cold, budget changes and a subsequent wave of bad press, the film's path to becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time (for over a decade) was no cakewalk. But on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the host spoke about how Kate Winslet said after filming that she was “genuinely frightened” of James Cameron and that he had a “temper.” Here’s what the top-grossing director had to say about that:
Let’s unpack that a little bit. She gave one interview when she finished the interview, and she threw me under the bus. But that was not reflective of the actual process of our work for six months, which was very attuned to each other. And we were friends during that period, and we were friends immediately after that. Because I called her up and said, ‘What the hell?’ She said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I was kind of depressed, and I was letting the character go and I said stuff I shouldn’t have said.’ And I said, ‘Alright, fine.’
James Cameron allowed the proverbial water to go under the bridge after Kate Winslet apologized. It’s not uncommon for people to make emotionally charged comments, especially after stressful experiences. Considering the two ended up working together again decades later for the Avatar: The Way of Water (streamable with a Disney+ subscription) and Fire and Ash, I’d definitely say the pair are on good terms today.
Years ago, people speculated that Titanic would sink at the box office due to reports of the historical romance flick going over budget, release date delays and rumors of harsh working conditions. During his recent interview, Cameron continued to talk about how Winslet’s initial claims could have been sparked by uncertainty about whether their movie would actually succeed:
And then we have been friends since then, so we’re talking about a week that gets blown up out of proportion and seems to define an era. But she was letting the character go, she was letting the project go, she was under a lot of pressure. The film hadn’t made its money yet, right? She hadn’t gotten nominated yet. The film hadn’t been a big success.
I can understand the pressure Kate Winslet could have been under as she was still a young star at the time. The English actress' role as Rose DeWitt Bukater made her the tenth-youngest Best Actress nominee at 22, and she became a Golden Globe nominee as well. Honestly, I'd say that everything paid off, given the historical romance film is now considered one of Winslet's best movies.
For his part, James Cameron seems to have gained a lot of perspective in regard to the hard way he treated people on set. Back in the day, he and his crew even went as far as to wear T-shirts to keep people in line that said things like “You either shoot it my way or you do another movie.” The Abyss director got real about those infamous tees:
You know, it’s all good clean fun right up until that’s the only thing people remember.
Even if Kate Winslet recalled James Cameron’s temper back then, she still has fond memories of the director now. She previously stated in 2022 that she understood what “a terrifying experience” filming Titanic was for Cameron. That was because the technology used for the film was experimental, and the crew couldn't afford for anything to go wrong during the shoot.
When the Titanic pair collaborated for Avatar: The Way of Water, on the other hand, the Oscar-winning actress described Cameron as “calmer” as he delved into the familiar world of Pandora and was confident in what he was doing for that shoot.
It goes without saying that James Cameron and Kate Winslet have had some great movie collaborations. The partnership may not have always been easy early on, but I love that they're still close today. You can watch their latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is still playing in theaters.
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