What might have been: Kate Winslet's screen test for 'Titanic'

Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 5:27 PM Central

by John Couture

Titanic hits Blu-ray for the first time this week and with it a bounty of never-before-seen special features are making their way to the public. Yahoo! Movies has an exclusive look at Kate Winslet's screen test for the film and it's quite interesting.

The first thing you'll notice is that Leonardo DiCaprio is no where to be seen. This isn't really all that surprising though as there are many different levels of screen testing and oftentimes a PA will read opposite an actor or actress just to give them someone to react off of.

However, that's not a PA across from Kate, that's none other than Jeremy Sisto reading the part of Jack Dawson. Now, I didn't follow the casting too closely back in the day because it predated my time in the industry, but it looks like Sisto was a serious candidate for the role.

Not only are screen tests a good way to weed out performers that aren't right for the role, but it allows you to test the chemistry between two potential romantic leads. I think you will agree with me that the chemistry between Jack and Rose was crucial to the story of Titanic and without it, the film probably wouldn't have done such a huge amount of business.

Hearing Jack's words come out of Jeremy's mouth is odd because at this point we completely associate them with Leo. He definitely plays Jack a bit darker and less idealistically than Leo. Obviously casting is a crucial part of the film making process and it just goes to show how different a film could be with a different casting choice.

I tried to find an online version of the same scene from the film, but the best I could do was this one below in which two people dubbed their voices in for Leo and Kate. Thankfully, they sound enough like the actors that I think you'll get a feel for the scene.

It's also interesting to see what a difference subtle changes like setting the scene outside instead of in the receiving room does for the scene. This really is a great insight into film making.

Speaking of screen tests, I included one of my favorite screen tests for Star Wars below. Kurt Russell is reading Han Solo opposite William Katt who is reading for Luke Skywalker. What might have been, eh?

OK fine, I couldn't end this article without the hilarious SNL Star Wars auditions piece. Enjoy!