Photos of BTS from Titanic with young Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet

Movie

TO Stephanie Webber

Behind-the-scenes photos of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic have been released – and they look like they were taken 84 years ago.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet boarded the fictional version of Titanic when production began in the summer of 1996, when the stars were just 21 and 20 years old, respectively. The James Cameron-directed drama was filmed primarily at Fox Baja Studios, now known as Baja Studios.

The cast and crew worked in the town of Rosarito in Baja California, Mexico, where they created the life-size Titanic exterior set, which reportedly cost a whopping $40 million.

In throwback photos, DiCaprio and Winslet can be seen walking around the set dressed as Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater. In one photo, DiCaprio also wears modern black sunglasses as he and others follow Cameron’s directions.

In another funny photo, DiCaprio, wearing a period-inappropriate parka, sits with Winslet, who is wearing Rose’s life jacket, and appears to be about to film the film’s most dramatic scenes. The English actress even seems to be opening her eyes a little during her busy work schedule.

Other photos show a baby-faced DiCaprio wearing Jack’s trousers and suspenders as he chats with co-star Danny Nucci, who plays Fabrizio.

In one stunning photo, Winslet wears Rose’s black and white striped suit and purple hat as she films the ship boarding scene with co-stars Frances Fisher (Ruth DeWitt Bukater), Billy Zane (Cal Hockley) and David Warner (Spicer Lovejoy). .

The photographs that surfaced were acquired several years ago by a British collector.

“These are amazing photographs. They provide a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the production of the highest-grossing film of the 20th century,” said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge. “What’s great about these photos is that they were clearly taken by a crew member with their own camera. They are not professional PR people; These are candid amateur photographs.”

The real ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of April 15, 1912, killing 1,517 people. The crew suffered the most, with about 700 people killed.

Today there is no one left alive after the Titanic. Elizabeth Gladys “Millvina” Dean, the longest living survivor of the wreckage, died at age 97 in 2009.

Cameron’s ambitious vision paid off: Titanic became the highest-grossing film of all time, overtaking Jurassic Park. Cameron’s Avatar broke his own record 12 years later, in 2009. (It was ultimately beaten by Avengers: Endgame in 2019.)

Additionally, Titanic won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, out of 14 nominations in 1998.

DiCaprio and Winslet both won their own acting Oscars—DiCaprio for The Revenant in 2016, and Winslet a few years earlier for The Reader in 2008.

The on-screen lovers became best friends after the beloved film ran for three hours and 15 minutes – a dizzying length for the industry in the 90s, even being split into two VHS tapes.

“Titanic was very much an experiment for Kate Winslet and me,” DiCaprio told Deadline in 2016. “We made all these independent films.” I loved her as an actress and she said, “Let’s do it together, we can do it.” We did it and it became something we never could have predicted.”

“People said, ‘Do you realize how big of a movie this is?’ I said, “Yes, it’s big. It’s a big movie.” They’re like, “No. No. No, this is the biggest movie ever,’ and I was like, ‘Well, what does that mean?'” he added. “I knew that at that moment I was expected to act in a certain way, and I knew that I needed to get back to my intentions from the beginning.”

Winslet shared her thoughts on the film during its 25th anniversary last year.

“Guys, I’m 47 years old now, and when we filmed this film, I turned 21. So that was half a lifetime ago,” she said on “Good Morning America.”

“It’s amazing and incredible to be a part of something that, you know, is so steeped in nostalgia for people and still resonates with people in the same way,” she continued. “It’s a huge, huge honor that people still love something that I was a part of all those years ago.”

DiCaprio was concerned about the film’s infamous door scene when Jack can’t fit next to Rose in the cold waters despite there being plenty of room. In a 2020 MTV interview, he was asked if he thought Jack might share this.

“No comment,” he said with a laugh.