Actor Ethan Hawke has shared what it was like to lose the lead role in the historical movie Titanic to Leonardo DiCaprio.
DiCaprio played an iconic character
Hawke revealed that he was originally up for the iconic role of Jack Dawson in Titanic, a character that DiCaprio ended up portraying alongside Kate Winslet’s Rose DeWitt Bukater in the 1997 James Cameron movie.
But Hawke is not bitter about losing the role
Although he flunked his audition, Hawke is not holding any grudges towards DiCaprio for getting the role. In fact, he believes DiCaprio was better suited for it.
He opened up about it in a recent interview with British GQ, published on Monday, September 1.
He believes DiCaprio handled it better
“I don’t think I would have handled that success as well as Leo,” Hawke, 54, told the magazine. “He was a f***ing Beatle.”
Titanic took home the Oscar for Best Picture at the time.
That success paved the way for DiCaprio
Titanic’s success brought on more roles for DiCaprio who went on to star in movies like Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, and Blood Diamond, which he received an Oscar for Best Actor nomination for.
DiCaprio was only 23 at the time
When the James Cameron movie hit theatres, DiCaprio, who is now 50 years old, was only 23 at the time. He explained why he was hesitant to join the project.
In an interview with WFAA in 1997, he explained, “I did have a lot of reservations about doing something commercial to this scale.”
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He was unsure about starring in a blockbuster
“They’ve always sort of been, in my opinion, big, epic blockbusters and they lack a lot of content. They weren’t very character driven and that’s a stereotype, of course,” DiCaprio said.
“So, I had a lot of reservations about doing the picture initially.”
Hawke had already made himself a name at that point
At the height of the success that came from Titanic, Hawke had already made a name for himself as he starred in 1989’s Dead Poets Society, 1994’s Reality Bites, and 1995’s Before Sunrise.
He earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 2001’s Training Day.
Hawke’s kids have followed in his footsteps
Decades later, Hawke’s children, Levon, 23, and Maya, 27 have followed in his footsteps. He shares both kids with ex-wife Uma Thurman.
Speaking to People last year, he said of his daughter, “Anybody that knows Maya knows that she’s a force,” adding, “She always has been. She writes and performs her own music and she loves acting and she loves painting and she’s kind of an artistic animal.”
