Leonardo DiCaprio Thought ‘Titanic’ Was ‘Boring’, Had To Be Convinced By James Cameron To Do It

leonardo dicaprio titanic

Paramount Pictures


It turns out that even Leonardo DiCaprio’s eye for spotting a good script isn’t perfect, as Titanic director James Cameron recently revealed that the Oscar winner thought the film was “boring” at first.

Speaking to People while at the Golden Globes, Cameron revealed that he had to “twist his [DiCaprio’s] arm” to be in the movie because the then-up-and-comer apparently “didn’t want to do a leading man.”

“He didn’t want to do a leading man,” recalls Cameron. “I had to really twist his arm to be in the movie. He didn’t want to do it. He thought it was boring.”

The Canadian filmmaker, 68, says that while DiCaprio eventually “accepted the part” of the ill-fated Jack, it was “only when I convinced him that it was actually a difficult challenge.”

“It didn’t surprise me, first of all, that he’s made a lot of authentic choices going forward. And secondly, I never doubted his talent.” [via People]

Leo, obviously, made the right choice by starring in Titanic as it went on to become literally the biggest movie ever made and a defining film for an entire generation.

Those authentic choices that Cameron is referring to are what led Leo to become *the* preeminent A-list actor in Hollywood and one of the last remaining movie stars that have the ability to open a movie on their name alone.

As for when the 48-year-old Academy Award winner will next be seen on the big screen, he’ll be starring alongside Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Brendan Fraser in Martin Scorsese’s $200 million Western film Killers of the Flower Moon.

Cameron, of course, most recently directed Avatar: The Way of Water, which is currently playing in theaters and has racked up over $1.75 billion at the global box office.

RELATED: Christian Bale Says A-List Actors Only Get Roles Because Leonardo DiCaprio Passed On Them First

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.