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The Iconic Titanic Quote That Leonardo DiCaprio Improvised
Leonardo DiCaprio was launched to superstardom with Titanic, but it turns out one of his most memorable quotes from this award-winning film was improvised. Released in 1997 after a hectic production, James Cameron’s romantic epic went on to win 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Titanic also became the highest-grossing film of all time, until Cameron eventually surpassed himself with Avatar in 2009.
Set in 1912, the period film follows socialite Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) as she and her family accompany her fiancé Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. Meanwhile, poor Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) wins a third-class ticket aboard the vessel, and the pair soon meet and fall in love. Inevitably, Cameron’s Titanic ends with the passenger liner’s tragic sinking, all framed around an elderly Rose (Gloria Stuart) narrating the story of her survival and doomed romance to a research expedition.
Jack and Rose’s star-crossed love affair became one of the most famous movie romances of all time. Titanic is filled with memorable moments and quotable lines, but DiCaprio’s infamous “I’m the king of the world” was never actually in the script. DiCaprio, who was reluctant to play Jack in the first place, didn’t want to say the line, but Cameron loved the idea and thought the actor sold the now-iconic moment.
Appearing on the BBC’s Movies That Made Me in 2019, Cameron described how the dialogue “was made up on the spot.” The line is joyously shouted by DiCaprio during a scene where Jack and his friend, Fabrizio (Danny Nucci), look out over the bow of the ship. Cameron, who also directed The Terminator, explained that he was filming the scene from a “crane basket” and that they were losing daylight, unable to find a line that perfectly encapsulated the moment. After trying several alternate versions, Cameron himself came up with “I’m the king of the world” and asked DiCaprio to “spread your arms out wide and just be in the moment and just love it.” However, DiCaprio wasn’t sold on the instruction. According to Cameron, he just repeatedly and unenthusiastically asked, “What?” Of course, he then performed the line, and it is now one of Titanic’s defining moments.
DiCaprio’s hesitation towards the improvised line is in keeping with his initial reluctance to play Jack Dawson. When casting Titanic, Cameron considered several young actors for Jack, including Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. His attention was then turned to DiCaprio, a rising star who had already gained an Oscar nomination for 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. DiCaprio was uncertain about the role and struggled to read his first romantic scene during a casting meeting with Cameron and Winslet. The director envisioned the role in the vein of James Stewart, rejecting DiCaprio’s suggestions to turn Jack into a brooding character. The actor was convinced by Cameron to star in Titanic, turning down the role of Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights. Although the film endured an arduous production, which cemented Cameron’s reputation as a demanding director and a perfectionist, Jack Dawson remains one of DiCaprio’s best movie roles to date.
The romantic drama isn’t the only time DiCaprio has improvised a memorable film moment. Rick Dalton’s spectacular meltdown while filming Lancer in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was also thought up on the day of shooting. Since Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio has gone on to play many challenging and acclaimed roles over the years, but he undoubtedly owes his superstardom to Titanic.
