Kate Winslet opens up about being body-shamed because of Jack's death in 'Titanic'
25 years since the release of the worldwide box office hit Titanic. Kate Winslet has finally opened up about being body shamed because of the (still) heart-wrenching death of Jack Dawson in the film.
To recap, the scene happens after the massive British ship sank into the Atlantic Ocean and left most of its 2,000 passengers swimming for life through freezing waters.
Kate's character, American socialite Rose DeWitt Bukater, and her love interest Jack Dawson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) take refuge on floating debris, which viewers identified as a door.
Rose stays on the door's surface, safe from the numbing waters as Jack stays submerged in it while holding her hand. Despite their promise of not letting go, the lovers eventually had to do so when Rose was awakened by the sound of rescuers searching for survivors. After Rose loosens her grip on Jack's hand, his icicle-clad body is seen drifting into the dark sea.
Decades later, fans of the film continue to debate the possibility of Jack surviving the incident, if only Rose moved aside and allowed Jack to share the door with her.
And as many questioned even director James Cameron's idea, others concluded that Kate was "too fat" to make space for Jack. The 47-year-old revealed this in an episode of the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast last Dec. 16.
"Apparently I was too fat," said Kate, who was interviewed by Happy, Sad, Confused's Josh Horowitz as part of her promotional efforts for her latest film, Avatar: The Way of the Water.
“They were so mean. I wasn’t even f–king fat,” she said about her 22-year-old self. “If I could turn back the clock, I would have used my voice in a completely different way... I would have said to journalists, I would have responded, I would have said, ‘Don’t you dare treat me like this. I’m a young woman, my body is changing, I’m figuring it out, I’m deeply insecure, I’m terrified, don’t make this any harder than it already is. That’s bullying, you know, and actually borderline abusive,' I would say.'"
As for the time-old question about Jack surviving the accident if he had gotten on the door with Rose, Winslet has this to say: "I don’t f–king know. That’s the answer. I don’t f–king know."
She went on to explain how it may not have worked based on her "decent understanding of water and how it behaves" based on her experiences with paddleboarding, scuba diving, and kitesurfing.
The actress said, "If you put two adults on a stand-up paddleboard, it becomes immediately, extremely unstable. That is for sure."
"I have to be honest: I actually don’t believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door. I think he would have fit, but it would have tipped and it would not have been a sustainable idea," she continued.
"So, you heard it here for the first time," Winslet remarked. "Yes, he could have fit on that door. But it would not have stayed afloat. It wouldn’t."
Titanic premiered in theaters in the US on Dec. 19, 1997, and in the Philippines on Feb. 4 the following. year. It won 11 Oscars, including Best Actress for Winslet's portrayal of Rose.
