James Cameron’s тιтanic is packed with memorable scenes, and one improvised moment led to one of Rose’s (Kate Winslet) most iconic moments, which was also unscripted. James Cameron is a name mostly ᴀssociated with the sci-fi genre, but one of his biggest and most popular projects was a disaster drama movie based on a real-life tragedy: тιтanic. Cameron’s legendary attention to detail was very present throughout the making of тιтanic, but he still allowed some improvised moments, which ultimately made the movie even better.

тιтanic introduces viewers to Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), who wins a ticket to board the тιтanic in a very lucky game of poker. On board the ship, Jack meets Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), a first-class pᴀssenger engaged to wealthy Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). Despite their different backgrounds and social status, Jack and Rose fall in love, and do what they can to survive the sinking of the тιтanic. тιтanic has some very dramatic and tragic moments but also some lighthearted scenes, and among them is one that was improvised and made way for another improvised but iconic moment.

Rose & Jack “Spitting Lesson” Scene In тιтanic Was Improvised

There’s A Reason Why The “Spitting Lesson” Scene Looks So Organic

Rose and Jack meet when the latter saves the former from jumping off the ship’s stern. As a way of thanking him, Cal invites Jack to have dinner with them on the first-class side of the ship, but Rose and Jack meet before dinner. Jack shows her his drawings and shares bits of his life and backstory with her, making Rose realize she needs freedom to be herself and do what she truly wants. Rose imagines if they went to the Santa Monica pier, and Jack starts joking with her about what they would do.

Jack says he will teach her how to ride a horse like a man, to which Rose mentions also learning how to spit like a man, and Jack takes it seriously. Jack takes Rose to another part of the ship and teaches her how to “spit like a man” before being interrupted by Rose’s mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) and Molly Brown (Kathy Bates). According to GQ India, this scene was completely improvised, which highlights the unique chemistry between Winslet and DiCaprio.

The scene is key to the early stages of Rose and Jack’s story as, even though it is a somewhat gross scene, it’s a bonding moment between them. Rose is opening up and letting loose after being oppressed and told what to do all the time, and she’s starting to feel comfortable with Jack. What makes this scene more memorable is that it ended up creating another unscripted moment, in which Rose put those lessons to good use.

Kate Winslet Improvised Spitting To Cal In тιтanic’s Third Act

Rose Was Supposed To Defend Herself In A Different Way

Rose eventually decides she will stay with Jack and run away with him as soon as they get to New York, but the sinking of the ship completely ends their plans. While the pᴀssengers struggle to get to the lifeboats, Ruth and Cal try to get Rose to board while Jack is kept captive in another part of the ship. Rose tries to escape but Cal grabs her, and to set herself free, she spits on Cal’s eye, very much like Jack taught her. As revealed by GQ India, this moment was also improvised by Winslet.

The script of тιтanic says that Rose “pulls out a hairpin and jabs him with it”, after which he lets out a curse word and she runs away. Instead, Winslet chose to spit on Cal’s face, showing that Rose found a use to those spitting lessons with Jack. Of course, this took Zane by surprise, but the scene was kept. тιтanic doesn’t have many improvised moments, but those that made it to the final cut became iconic.

Source: GQ India.