15 Intriguing Titanic Facts Often Missed Even by Those Who’ve Watched the Movie Repeatedly

Titanic is a legendary film that each of us has seen at least once. We are all familiar with the love story of Rose and Jack, and its tragic ending. However, even the most devoted fans of the movie don’t know everything about it. There are details that have escaped the most attentive eyes. At the end of the article, a bonus awaits you: what did the director of the film, James Cameron, say in response to the question of whether Jack could have survived.

Rose lost her necklace.

We can perceive a small error, which was possibly made due to a distraction. First, Rose can be seen attending a very elegant dinner with her mother. But suddenly, our protagonist, who gets really annoyed by the comments of the attendees, decides to leave the gala. On her way out of the ballroom, you can clearly see that she no longer has the necklace around her neck and that she untied her hair in a matter of seconds.

The couch became a bed because of DiCaprio’s mistake.

When Jack is preparing to draw Rose, he says to her, “Over on the bed... the couch.” In reality Leonardo DiCaprio made a mistake, the real line was “Lie on that couch,” but James Cameron liked it so much he decided to keep it.

The red luxurious car was really on board the Titanic.

At the beginning of the movie, you can see a red car being loaded onto the ship, in which Jack and Rose will later consummate their relationship. It’s interesting that this was a replica of the real car which was on board the Titanic.

A brand new red Renault Type CB Coupé de Ville belonged to William Carter from Pennsylvania, a wealthy heir to a coal and iron fortune. Initially, he and his family were supposed to travel to the United States aboard another ship, the Olympic, but they decided to stay in England for another week and bought tickets aboard the Titanic.

There were no bathroom breaks during the filming.

James Cameron was very meticulous about the filming schedule, so while working on the scenes with lifeboats, he threatened to fire any actor who would go to the bathroom in the process. The stars and extras had no choice but to pee right in the water tank where the shooting took place. Even Kate Winslet had to do it.

Gloria Stuart, who played elderly Rose, had to be made up to look older.

Even though it seems that Hollywood legend Gloria Stuart looks natural in the movie, in reality makeup artists had to work hard on her looks. When the movie was filmed, the actress was 87 years old, while according to the script, Rose was a little over 100. Therefore, Stuart’s hair was made completely gray, and her face was aged with makeup.

J. Dawson was really on board the Titanic.

Even though all the main characters were fictional in James Cameron’s movie, it’s interesting that there was a real passenger named J. Dawson on board the Titanic. Moreover, the movie director found out about this only after the movie was released.

When the movie fans became aware of this fact, Dawson’s grave in Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada) became a tourist attraction.

Rose made Jack’s dreams about their future come true.

When Jack and Rose are talking about their future together on deck, Jack tells her, “We’ll ride horses on the beach, in the surf. But you have to do it like a real cowboy. No sidesaddle stuff.” Later we can see a photo in Rose’s house where she confidently sits on horseback with a beach in the background.

Rose’s dog has a deep connection with the true story.

Elderly Rose holds a Pomeranian in her arms. The choice of the dog wasn’t accidental, James Cameron paid tribute to the dogs that survived the sinking of the ship this way. 2 of the 3 surviving dogs were Pomeranians. When the real ship was sinking, the passengers released their dogs. Cameron filmed these scenes, but they were not included in the final cut.

Jack mentions a non-existent lake and roller coaster.

When trying to dissuade Rose from jumping into the cold water, Jack mentions ice fishing on Lake Wissota. But this lake was manmade only in 1917, while the Titanic sank in 1912. The same applies to the roller coaster in Santa Monica where Jack promises to take Rose, although it was built only in 1916.

The actors ate real delicacies.

In the First Class dining scenes, the actors were served real Beluga caviar, which price ranges from $3,200 to $4,500 per pound. But even expensive delicacies didn’t help Leonardo DiCaprio feel less tired because he had to work 14 hours a day.

Matthew McConaughey could have played Jack.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s role could have been played by another Hollywood actor — Matthew McConaughey. Kate Winslet spoke about it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “I auditioned with Matthew, isn’t that weird? Never said that in public before. I auditioned with Matthew, which was completely fantastic. It just wouldn’t have been the whole, Jack and Rose, Kate and Leo thing,” she said.

The movie production budget was higher than the cost of the ship.

The film studio spent $200 million on the production of the movie, while the cost of the Titanic at the time of its launch was $7.5 million. Even if this amount is adjusted for inflation, it still will be smaller than the cost of the movie production, namely $198 million.

Fabrizio finds use for the knife he’s won with his ticket.

At the beginning of the movie, Jack and Fabrizio win a pocket watch and a penknife along with the Titanic ticket. Later, Fabrizio cuts the ropes with this knife to launch a lifeboat.

The clock shows this time for a reason.

In the final scene of the movie, where Rose returns to the Titanic in her thoughts and sees Jack, you can notice that the clock on the back board shows 2:20. This is the exact time the ship sank.

The creators of the movie made a mistake with Kate Winslet’s nails.

We know that the movie’s filming lasted several months, so Kate Winslet’s nails obviously grew several times. However, for her character Rose, it was barely a couple of days. In some scenes, we can see that her nails look short, and the length changes drastically from one scene to the next.

Bonus: James Cameron answered a question, whether or not Jack could’ve survived if he had gotten on top of the raft with Rose.

Cameron conducted a scientific study and concluded that “only one could survive” during the iconic door scene. “We took 2 stunt people who were the same body mass of Kate and Leo, and we put sensors all over them and inside them, and we put them in ice water, and we tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was, there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive,” he explained.

The role of Jack was considered not only for Matthew McConaughey but also for many other actors, and Leonardo DiCaprio almost missed his chance. Many actresses were also considered for the role of Rose. Take a look at how the cast of Titanic could have looked.