Titanic Door Debate, James Cameron and Kate Winslet Respond

Twenty-five years after its release, fans of Titanic have been pondering one controversial question, “Could Jack fit on the door?”

Now, fans have an answer from none other than one of the film’s starring performers, Kate Winslet, as well as director James Cameron.

The infamous Titanic door scene has been debated, parodied, and tested since the film was released in 1997. Many fans have argued that there was ample room for both Rose and Jack to float to safety.

Titanic, 25 years on

The 1997 movie Titanic was based on the eponymous ship, which set sail on its doomed maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912. A few days later, on April 14th, the ship struck an iceberg and sank. More than half of the passengers and crew died.

Director James Cameron’s movie adaptation was anything but a disaster, however. It remains the third highest-grossing film of all time. The film’s anthem, “My Heart Will Go On,” sung by none other than Celine Dion, topped the charts in twenty-five countries around the world when the film was released.

Shortly after Titanic’s twenty-fifth anniversary, a remastered version of the film will be released in theaters in time for Valentine’s Day in February of next year. Meanwhile, Cameron and Winslet are busy promoting their latest venture, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Kate Winslet weighs in on the door debate

Winslet was speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast when she was asked whether Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jack, could have clambered next to her character, Rose, on the Titanic’s floating door.

“I don’t f—ing know,” Winslet joked on the podcast, “That’s the answer…I don’t f—ing know.”

Her Titanic co-star, DiCaprio, was also asked the same question on another episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. He likewise avoided giving a firm answer and said jokingly “I have no comment.”

Winslet gave the question some further thought and related to her experiences playing water sports like paddleboarding, surfing, and kiteboarding.

“I actually don’t believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door,” the actress added after pondering the question some more. “I think that he could have fit but it would have tipped and it would not have been a sustainable idea.”

“So, you heard it here for the first time, yes, he could have fit on that door but it would not have stayed afloat,” Winslet concluded.

What does James Cameron say?

Last week, James Cameron also weighed in on the infamous Titanic debate. He told the Toronto Sun that they conducted a “scientific study” to determine whether there was space for both Jack and Rose on the floating door.

According to Cameron, “We took two 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.”

The director added that the February re-release of Titanic would feature a “forensic analysis” of the door debacle.

Cameron concluded with the thematic elements of the film. “No, he needed to die,” said the director. “It’s like Romeo and Juliet. It’s a movie about love and sacrifice and mortality. The love is measured by the sacrifice.”