Editing Titanic (1997 film) (section)

===Fictional characters===
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* [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] as Jack Dawson. Cameron said he needed the cast to feel they were really on the ''Titanic'', to relive its liveliness, and "to take that energy and give it to Jack,&nbsp;... an artist who is able to have his heart soar".<ref name="Making of">{{cite news|title=Heart of the Ocean: The Making of ''Titanic''. THE BEST OF.|date=1997–1998}}</ref> Jack is portrayed as an itinerant, poor orphan from [[Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin]], who has travelled the world, including [[Paris]]. He wins two third-class tickets for the ''Titanic'' in a poker game and travels with his friend Fabrizio. He is attracted to Rose at first sight. Her fiancé's invitation to dine with them the next evening enables Jack to mix with first-class passengers for a night. Cameron's original choice for the role was [[River Phoenix]]; however, he died in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2494354/actors-who-couldve-been-cast-in-titanic|title=12 Actors Who Could've Been Cast In Titanic|last=Ashton|first=Will|date=September 15, 2022|website=CinemaBlend|publisher=[[Future plc]]|access-date=December 13, 2022|quote=James Cameron had originally considered River Phoenix for the role, but the young actor tragically passed away before he could be asked to play the leading man part.|archive-date=December 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213152918/https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2494354/actors-who-couldve-been-cast-in-titanic|url-status=live}}</ref> Though established actors like [[Matthew McConaughey]], [[Chris O'Donnell]], [[Billy Crudup]], and [[Stephen Dorff]] were considered, Cameron felt they were too old for the part of a 20-year-old.<ref name="www.ew.com">{{cite magazine|title=Titanic. Man overboard! After a production as lavish and pricey as the doomed ship itself, James Cameron finally unveils his epic film. But will it be unsinkable?|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|pages=1–7|date=November 7, 1997|url=https://ew.com/article/1997/11/07/titanic-10/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326120040/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,290182,00.html|archive-date=March 26, 2010}}</ref><ref name="www.media-awareness.ca">{{cite web|title=James Cameron's Titanic|publisher=[[Media Awareness Network]]|access-date=January 24, 2010|url=http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/deconstructing_titanic_6.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609180647/http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/deconstructing_titanic_6.cfm|archive-date=June 9, 2011}}</ref> [[Tom Cruise]] was interested, but his [[asking price]] was too high.<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> Cameron considered [[Jared Leto]] for the role, but Leto refused to audition.<ref>{{cite web|first=Ramin|last=Setoodeh|title=Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet: Which 'Titanic' Star Has the Better Career?|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|publisher=[[The Newsweek Daily Beast Company]]|date=April 4, 2012|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/04/leonardo-dicaprio-or-kate-winslet-which-titanic-star-has-the-better-career.html|access-date=April 23, 2012|archive-date=November 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107011441/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/04/leonardo-dicaprio-or-kate-winslet-which-titanic-star-has-the-better-career.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jeremy Sisto]] did a series of screen tests with Winslet and three other actresses vying for the role of Rose.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Meena|last=Jang|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeremy-sisto-was-heartbroken-losing-779565|title='Clueless' Actor: I Was "Heartbroken" After Losing 'Titanic' Role to Leonardo DiCaprio|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=June 17, 2019|language=en-US|archive-date=June 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617234811/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeremy-sisto-was-heartbroken-losing-779565|url-status=live}}</ref> DiCaprio, 21 years old at the time, was brought to Cameron's attention by casting director Mali Finn.<ref name="www.ew.com" /> Initially, he did not want the role and refused to read his first romantic scene. Cameron said, "He read it once, then started goofing around, and I could never get him to focus on it again. But for one split second, a shaft of light came down from the heavens and lit up the forest." Cameron strongly believed in DiCaprio's acting ability and told him, "Look, I'm not going to make this guy brooding and neurotic. I'm not going to give him a tic and a limp and all the things you want." Cameron envisioned the character as being like those played by [[James Stewart]] or [[Gregory Peck]].<ref name="www.ew.com" /><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIEbpGdctyg |title=James Cameron Breaks Down His Most Iconic Films {{!}} GQ |date=2022-11-22 |last=GQ |access-date=2024-05-27 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Although Jack Dawson was a fictional character, in [[Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia|Fairview Cemetery]] in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], where 121 victims are buried, there is a grave labeled "J. Dawson". The producers did not know of the real J. Dawson until after the film was released.<ref>{{cite news|first=Rob|last=Gillies|title=Titanic: Visiting The Grave Of The Real J. Dawson In Halifax |work=Huffington Post |date=April 4, 2012 |access-date=May 12, 2015 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/titanic-real-j-dawson-grave_n_1403858.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407043556/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/titanic-real-j-dawson-grave_n_1403858.html |archive-date=April 7, 2012 }}</ref>
* [[Kate Winslet]] as Rose DeWitt Bukater. Cameron said Winslet "had the thing that you look for" and that there was "a quality in her face, in her eyes" that he "just knew people would be ready to go the distance with her".<ref name="Making of" /> Rose is a 17-year-old girl from [[Philadelphia]], who is forced into an engagement to 30-year-old Cal Hockley so she and her mother, Ruth, can maintain their high-class status after her father's death left the family debt-ridden. Rose boards ''Titanic'' with Cal and Ruth as a first-class passenger and meets Jack. Winslet said of her character, "She has got a lot to give, and she's got a very open heart. And she wants to explore and adventure the world, but she [feels] that's not going to happen."<ref name="Making of" /> [[Gwyneth Paltrow]], [[Winona Ryder]], [[Claire Danes]] (who had worked with DiCaprio in ''[[Romeo + Juliet]]'' the previous year), [[Gabrielle Anwar]], and [[Reese Witherspoon]] were considered for the role.<ref name="www.ew.com" /><ref name="www.forbes.com">{{cite news|title=Star Misses. Nicole Kidman in "The Reader"? Gwyneth Paltrow aboard "Titanic"? How some of the biggest names in Hollywood lost out on some of its biggest roles.|work=[[Forbes]]|date=February 25, 2009|access-date=January 22, 2010|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/25/nicole-kidman-gwyneth-paltrow-kate-winslet-business-media_star_misses.html|archive-date=November 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104103436/http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/25/nicole-kidman-gwyneth-paltrow-kate-winslet-business-media_star_misses.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/titanic-casting-james-cameron-christian-bale_n_1619006.html|title='Titanic' Casting: What Other Stars Were Considered For James Cameron's Masterpiece?|work=[[Huffington Post]]|date=June 22, 2012|access-date=March 21, 2016|archive-date=March 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313200613/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/titanic-casting-james-cameron-christian-bale_n_1619006.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="women.timesonline.co.uk">{{cite news|first=Ruby|last=Warrington|title=Claire Danes: the secretive starlet|work=[[The Times]]|date=November 29, 2009|access-date=January 22, 2010|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article6929555.ece|location=London|archive-date=June 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615145756/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article6929555.ece|url-status=dead}}</ref> When they turned it down, Winslet campaigned heavily for the role. She sent Cameron daily notes from England, which led Cameron to invite her to [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]] for auditions. As with DiCaprio, casting director [[Mali Finn]] originally brought her to Cameron's attention. When looking for a Rose, Cameron described the character as "an [[Audrey Hepburn]] type". He was initially uncertain about casting Winslet even after her [[screen test]] impressed him.<ref name="www.ew.com" /> After she screen tested with DiCaprio, Winslet was so thoroughly impressed with him that she whispered to Cameron, "He's great. Even if you don't pick me, pick him." Winslet sent Cameron a single rose with a card signed, "From Your Rose", and lobbied him by phone. "You don't understand!" she pleaded one day when she reached him by mobile phone in his [[Humvee]]. "I am Rose! I don't know why you're even seeing anyone else!" Her persistence, as well as her talent, eventually convinced him to cast her in the role.<ref name="www.ew.com" />
* [[Billy Zane]] as Cal Hockley, Rose's arrogant and snobbish 30-year-old fiancé, who is the heir to a [[Pittsburgh]] steel fortune. He is resentful of Rose's affection for Jack. Cameron initially considered [[Michael Biehn]], whom he had previously collaborated with on ''[[The Terminator]], [[Aliens (1986 film)|Aliens]]'', and ''[[The Abyss (1989 film)|The Abyss]]'', for the role,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Spelling |first1=Ian |title='Asteroid's' Michael Biehn Hopes for a Big Impact |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-02-13-9702130369-story.html |access-date=5 September 2023 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=February 13, 1997 |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905060654/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-02-13-9702130369-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> before offering it to Matthew McConaughey,<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> and [[Rob Lowe]] said he pursued it.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/699008/rob-lowe-talks-about-his-brothers-sisters-and-the-west-wing-departures-ahead-of-the-grinder-premiere|title=Why Rob Lowe Left Brothers & Sisters & The West Wing|work=E! Online|access-date=July 23, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=July 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714182709/http://www.eonline.com/news/699008/rob-lowe-talks-about-his-brothers-sisters-and-the-west-wing-departures-ahead-of-the-grinder-premiere|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Frances Fisher]] as Ruth DeWitt Bukater, Rose's widowed mother, who arranges Rose's engagement to Cal to maintain her family's high-society status. Like many aristocratic passengers portrayed in the film, her disposition is elitist and frivolous. She loves her daughter but believes that social position is more important than having a loving marriage. She strongly dislikes Jack, even though he saved her daughter's life.
* [[Gloria Stuart]] as the modern-day Rose Dawson Calvert. Rose narrates the film in a [[framing device]]. Cameron stated, "In order to see the present and the past, I decided to create a fictional survivor who is [close to] 101 years, and she connects us in a way through history."<ref name="Making of" /> The 100-year-old Rose gives Lovett information regarding the Heart of the Ocean after he discovers a nude drawing of her in the wreck. She shares the story of her time aboard the ship and speaks about her relationship with Jack for the first time since the sinking. At 87, Stuart had to be made up to look older for the role.<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> Of casting Stuart, Cameron stated, "My casting director found her. She was sent out on a mission to find retired actresses from the [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Golden Age of the thirties and forties]]."<ref name="www.industrycentral.net">{{cite web |last=Schultz |first=Rick |title=James Cameron tells the astonishing story of Titanic, his breathtaking labor of love |url=http://www.industrycentral.net/director_interviews/JC01.HTM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206150228/http://www.industrycentral.net/director_interviews/JC01.HTM |archive-date=February 6, 2010 |access-date=January 23, 2010 |publisher=industrycentral.net}}</ref> Cameron said that he did not know who Stuart was. [[Fay Wray]] was also considered for the role, but Cameron said, "[Stuart] was just so into it, and so lucid, and had such a great spirit. And I saw the connection between her spirit and [Winslet's] spirit. I saw this ''[[joie de vivre]]'' in both of them, that I thought the audience would be able to make that cognitive leap that it's the same person."<ref name="www.industrycentral.net"/>
* [[Bill Paxton]] as Brock Lovett, a treasure hunter looking for the Heart of the Ocean in the wreck of the ''Titanic'' in the present. Time and funding for his expedition are running out. He reflects at the film's conclusion that, despite thinking about ''Titanic'' for three years, he has never understood it until he hears Rose's story.
* [[Suzy Amis Cameron|Suzy Amis]] as Elizabeth "Lizzy" Calvert, Rose's granddaughter, who accompanies her when she visits Lovett on the ship and learns of her grandmother's romantic past with Jack Dawson.
* [[Danny Nucci]] as Fabrizio De Rossi, Jack's Italian best friend, who boards ''Titanic'' with him after Jack wins two tickets in a poker game. Fabrizio fails to board a lifeboat when the ''Titanic'' sinks and is killed when one of the ship's funnels breaks and crashes into the water, crushing him and several other passengers to death.<ref name=":4" />
* [[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]] as Spicer Lovejoy, an ex-[[Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton]] constable and Cal's English valet and bodyguard. He monitors Rose and is suspicious about the circumstances surrounding Jack rescuing her. He dies when the ''Titanic'' splits in half, causing him to fall into a massive opening. Warner also appeared in the 1979 TV miniseries ''[[S.O.S. Titanic]]'', portraying passenger [[Lawrence Beesley]].
* [[Jason Barry]] as Tommy Ryan, an Irish third-class passenger who befriends Jack and Fabrizio. Tommy is killed when he is accidentally pushed forward and shot by a panicked First Officer Murdoch.<ref name=":4" />
* [[Alexandrea Owens-Sarno]] as Cora Cartmell, a young third-class girl who dances with Jack at the Irish party. In a deleted scene, Cora and her family drowned after they were trapped at the locked third-class gate.<ref name=":4">{{Cite magazine |last=Liebenson |first=Donald |date=2017-12-18 |title=Five Unforgettable Passengers Remember Life Aboard Titanic |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/titanic-20th-anniversary-trudy-fabrizio-cora-tommy-irish-mom |access-date=2024-07-24 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Camilla Overbye Roos]] as Helga Dahl, a Norwegian immigrant and third-class passenger who falls in love with Fabrizio. While most of her scenes were cut and the secondary significance of her character was drastically reduced from the original screenplay to the final theatrical cut, Helga is most notably seen clinging onto the rail of the ship's stern with Jack and Rose before slipping into the frigid waters below.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nygaard |first=Kristian Dam |date=2017-12-09 |title=Danske Camilla var med i Titanic: Sådan er hendes forhold til Leonardo DiCaprio i dag |url=https://www.bt.dk/film-og-tv/danske-camilla-var-med-i-titanic-saadan-er-hendes-forhold-til-leonardo-dicaprio |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103050820/https://www.bt.dk/film-og-tv/danske-camilla-var-med-i-titanic-saadan-er-hendes-forhold-til-leonardo-dicaprio |archive-date=2018-01-03 |access-date=2019-03-13 |website=B.T. |language=da}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nygaard |first=Kristian Dam |date=2017-12-08 |title=Danske Camilla var med i 'Titanic': Så mange penge tjente hun |url=https://www.bt.dk/film-og-tv/danske-camilla-var-med-i-titanic-saa-mange-penge-tjente-hun |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720133933/https://www.bt.dk/film-og-tv/danske-camilla-var-med-i-titanic-saa-mange-penge-tjente-hun |archive-date=2018-07-20 |access-date=2019-03-13 |website=B.T. |language=da}}</ref>
* [[Amy Gaipa]] as Trudy Bolt, Rose's personal maid.<ref name=":4" />