Ethan Hawke has no regrets about losing the leading role in Titanic to Leonardo DiCaprio. Hawke auditioned for the role of Jack Dawson, the male lead and love interest to Kate Winslet’s Rose. Although Hawke wasn’t picked for the role, he’s stated he’s happy with the result, as he feels he wouldn’t have been able to handle the fame that came with it. Here’s what he said about not landing the big role.
Ethan Hawke is relieved to lose a role to Leonardo DiCaprio
In a conversation with British GQ, Ethan Hawke revealed that he’s relieved that he didn’t get Leonardo DiCaprio’s role in Titanic. He said, “I don’t think I would have handled that success as well as Leo,” he says. “He was a f*****g Beatle.”
In an older interview with The Telegraph, Hawke initially said that he felt disappointment over not getting the role, but he later didn’t regret it when he saw DiCaprio’s fame. Sharing his thinking, he said, “I sat there watching him, and it was like watching a Beatle. The closest thing I’ve ever come to that frenzy. All the girls wanted to f*** him, and all the guys wanted to fight him. I went to myself: ‘Wow man, I’m glad I didn’t get that part.'”
However, there was still a part of him that imagined the what-if possibility of what his life could have been like if he were picked for the role. “But you know, secretly, I couldn’t help thinking that if I had got it maybe I could have lived exactly the life I wanted to. That I would never have had to worry about my career. Damn DiCaprio,” he mentioned. He jokingly added, “Damn that kid!”
Although Hawke didn’t get to play Jack in Titanic, he has earned massive fame through other renowned movies such as Dead Poets Society, Training Day, and the Before trilogy, among many others.
