Kate Winslet Says She Has Video Of Her Record-Breaking Underwater Breath Hold

In an interview with Total Film, Winslet revealed she recorded the whole thing. “I have the video of me surfacing saying, ‘Am I dead, have I died?’ And then going, ‘What was [my time]?’” she said.

She admitted, though, that it was more of a personal challenge than a requirement of the film. “I didn't have to hold my breath for over seven minutes. It's just that the opportunity to set a record presented itself,” she explained. “I wanted to break my own record, which was already six minutes and 14 seconds. And I was like, ‘Come on!’ So I smashed my own record by a minute.”

Before the Titanic star performed her impressive feat, Tom Cruise was the record holder, clocking in at six minutes while filming an underwater scene for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Winslet previously said she felt very proud of herself for her record-smashing achievement.

For her underwater scenes, the actress had to go through intense training under pro divers for four weeks in massive tanks, which she said was an experience she absolutely loved. Her Avatar co-star, Sigourney Weaver, was trained by military divers herself, revealing in a separate interview that she was able to hold her breath for more than six minutes as a result. Zoe Saldana, meanwhile, came in at an impressive five minutes.

Surprisingly, Winslet told Total Film that holding her breath wasn’t the most difficult part of shooting. Instead, it was “fitting into this world and yet appearing to have always been there.” A new addition to the cast, she said she had to quickly learn from the movement coaches and original heroine Saldana, who “was a huge part of the creation of the voices of the Na'vi people.”

Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters on December 16.