Filming Titanic was so challenging that even the iconic kiss was a disaster during production. The movie told the true story of the Titanic’s sinking in 1912, while adding in a romance between Leonardi DiCaprio’s Jack and Kate Winslet’s Rose. The movie proved to be an abject success, as it earned over $2.25 billion on a budget of just $200 million. The most iconic scene in the movie featured Jack and Rose kissing at the end of the ship shortly before the entire vessel sank.

While reviewing the clip of their iconic kiss, Winslet reflects on the production problems that plagued the movie. During an interview with Vanity Fair, she revealed that DiCaprio’s laughter, lighting problems, and makeup issues left the entire kiss scene as an absolute disaster. They had to film the scene multiple times, and tight clothing meant that Winslet could barely breathe. Check out her full explanation below:

Oh, this was a nightmare, shooting this, because Leo couldn’t stop laughing and we had to re-shoot this about four times because the light, the light was… Jim wanted a very specific light for this, obviously, and the sunsets kept changing where we were. This was a section of the ship. It wasn’t part of the actual whole ship set that we had. It was a little sort of torn off bit. We had to climb up a ladder to get to it. I remember, it was sort of hair and makeup couldn’t reach us. Now, what you wouldn’t know, because Leo looks completely natural, but he had to lay on sun beds, there’s a lot of fake tan makeup going on. So I have got hidden in here and here, I’ve got his makeup and brushes and sponge and my makeup and brushes and sponge in the other side, and between takes, I was basically redoing our makeup. It’s quite funny. Giggling, covered in each other’s makeup. Oh my God, it goes on and on and on. Yep, so you can’t breathe. My boobs are practically up to my chin.

My God, he’s quite the romancer, isn’t he? No wonder every young girl in the world wanted to be kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio. It was not all it’s cracked up to be. So we kept doing this kiss and I have a lot of pale makeup on and I would have to like do our makeup checks, me, on both of us, between takes, and I would end up looking as though I had been like sucking a caramel chocolate bar after each take because his makeup would come off on me, and he just looked like there was a bit missing from his face because there was this big pale bit from all my makeup getting onto him. Oh God, it was such a mess.

Filming Titanic Was An Extreme Challenge

The Kiss Wasn’t The Only Major Problem

Directing Titanic was a massive problem for James Cameron, who ordered most of an entire ship built to film the movie. The ship was designed to facilitate a realistic sinking and was specifically built to model the original boat. Actors wore authentic costumes, and the props and designs were all painstakingly recreated from the real historical ship. There are some fictitious elements, including Jack and Rose’s romance, but everything was drawn from real-world events. Even Rose was inspired by the real survivor, Beatrice Wood.

The notorious production was so fraught that its budget doubled long before it ever finished. At the time it was released, it was a massive $200 million and the most expensive movie ever made. It could easily have been a disaster capable of ending Cameron’s career. It was also dangerous. While filming the water scenes, Winslet nearly drowned and suffered from hypothermia. The ever-increasing stakes left the production tense, especially as the rising budget meant that they would need a massive gain at the box office.

Makeup problems might seem far less complicated, but they still posed a challenge for Winslet and DiCaprio. With Winslet as the only option for makeup support between takes, she needed to use extreme skill to ensure that the production went well. Lighting issues and focus on the cameras also posed a problem, and some of the poorly-rendered shots actually made it to the final cut. Filming Titanic was a massive issue, and the Jack and Rose kiss scene was no easier than the rest of the movie’s development.

Source: Vanity Fair