Kate Winslet left 'traumatised' by Titanic experience

James Cameron says he and Kate Winslet always planned on working together again after Titanic even though he believes the actress was "traumatised" by her experience making the 1997 epic.

Titanic was released and it eventually became the highest-grossing movie of all time up until that point before being surpassed by another Cameron project, Avatar.

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Key to the success of the movie was the chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Winslet, who played characters who fell in love while the sinking of the ship took place around them.

Cameron and Winslet will collaborate for the upcoming Avatar sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water and the director says the reunion between the pair has been a long time coming.

“I think Kate came out of Titanic a bit traumatised by the scale of the production and her responsibility within it," he told Radio Times.

“We’ve both been eager over time to work together again, to see what the other is about at this point in our lives and careers.

“She’s very large and in charge on set. You’d swear she was producing the film!”

How DiCaprio nearly wasn't cast in Titanic

Cameron previously revealed that DiCaprio was almost not cast in Titanic after he initially refused to audition.

After an initial meeting with Cameron, DiCaprio returned for another thinking he would be introduced to Winslet informally, but it turns out it was an audition, and he wasn't happy.

"He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate," Cameron told GQ.

"So I said, 'Okay, we'll just go in the next room, and we'll run some lines and I'll video it.' And he said, 'You mean, I'm reading?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Oh, I don't read.' I shook his hand and said, 'Well, thanks for coming by'.

"And he said, 'Wait, wait, wait. You mean, if I don't read, I don't get the part? Just like that?' And I said, 'Oh, yeah. Come on.

"This is a giant movie that is going to take two years of my life... I'm not going to f**k it up by making the wrong decision in casting. So, you're going to read, or you're not going to get the part.'"

Eventually, DiCaprio agreed and generated immediate chemistry with Winslet during his audition.