What you need to know about 'titanic' on its 25th anniversary

To honor the 111th anniversary of the sinking of _Titanic _on April 14, 1912, watch James Cameron’s romantic epic film, which has been remastered to look and sound better than it did on its

original 1997 release. It’s available now on multiple streaming services. Here are some fun facts about the movie Cameron originally pitched as “Romeo and Juliet on a boat”: JULIET SPURNED

THE MOVIE Instead of Kate Winslet, Claire Danes was supposed to play Rose, opposite her _Romeo+Juliet _costar Leonardo DiCaprio. “I had just made this romantic epic [_Romeo+Juliet_] with Leo

in Mexico City,” Danes told podcaster Dax Shepard, “which is where they were going to shoot _Titanic_! And I just didn't have it in me!” She has “zero regrets.” Then Gwyneth Paltrow

spurned the Rose role, which she regrets. Other potential Roses: Winona Ryder, Uma Thurman and Reese Witherspoon. Winslet says they were much more likely candidates, and she got lucky.

DICAPRIO WASN’T THE ONLY POTENTIAL JACK After River Phoenix died, Jared Leto refused to audition. Matthew McConaughey failed an audition he told _People_ he thought he’d aced: “They were

like, ‘That went great.’ I mean, kind of, like, hugs. I really thought it was going to happen.” Johnny Depp declined to play Jack because he hated the script. “Horrible, I couldn’t get

through it,” he told Howard Stern. DiCaprio was offered the _Titanic_ lead, but he almost chose _Boogie Nights _instead. Happily, he chose _Titanic_ (recommending his _Basketball Diaries_ 

costar Mark Wahlberg for _Boogie Nights_) and wound up enjoying his favorite onscreen smooch of all time with Winslet. He told Oprah they didn’t kiss just once on _Titanic_, but “more times

than you could ever imagine.” OTHER A-LISTERS MISSED THE BOAT Robert De Niro got a gastrointestinal bug, so Bernard Hill played the captain of the doomed ship __instead. Reba McEntire had to

let Kathy Bates take the Molly Brown part, because the shoot lasted too long and she didn’t want to cancel her tour and have to fire her crew. Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo KATE GAVE LEO A

SURPRISE “He’s a bit gorgeous, and I was worried that I was going to be bowled over by him, or that he was going to find me all stuffy and Shakespearean and English,” Winslet told _Rolling

Stone_. So before their first scene — in which he sketches her naked — she flashed him. “Luckily, and this is the important thing, we never fancied each other. I know that’s annoying to

hear. Sorry.” They’re pals for life and quote _Titanic_ lines to each other for fun. WINSLET GOT FAT-SHAMED WITHOUT ACTUALLY BEING FAT In childhood, her drama teacher said she’d have to

settle for “fat girl parts,” and her nickname was "Blubber," she told children at a 2017 British youth charity event, and on _Titanic_, Cameron called her “Kate Weighs-a-Lot.” Some

trolls said that’s why Leo couldn’t fit on the raft at the end. “They were so mean,” she told podcaster Josh Horowitz. “I wasn’t even f------ fat.” She wishes she’d told the trolls, “Don’t

you dare treat me like this. I’m a young woman, my body is changing, I’m figuring it out, I’m deeply insecure, I’m terrified, don’t make this any harder than it already is.” (Left to right)

James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the set of "Titanic." Maximum Film/Alamy Stock Photo BUT … COULD JACK HAVE FIT ON THE DOOR-TURNED-RAFT WITH ROSE AND LIVED? To

prove that Jack and Rose couldn’t have survived on the raft, Cameron put stuntpeople the same weight as the stars on a _Titanic_ raft replica in ice water and had a hypothermia expert

examine them. In February 2023, he’ll release a special on the study. _MythBusters_ did a 2012 _Titanic_ experiment and concluded that the lovers could’ve survived if they put Rose’s life

jacket under the raft for buoyancy, Rose could’ve survived alone on it, and Jack would’ve died in 51 minutes in the water. Cameron told the _MythBusters_ hosts, “Could Romeo have been smart

and not taken the poison? Yes. It sort of misses the point.”