Kate Winslet says kissing Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic was ‘a mess’: ‘It’s not all it’s cracked up to be’

It might be time to let go of your crush on Titanic’s Jack Dawson, because Kate Winslet says he wasn’t even a good kisser.

Revisiting the film’s famous “I’m flying” scene with Vanity Fair, Winslet said that while she can certainly see the appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio’s suave artist, locking lips with him was no dream come true. But in DiCaprio’s defense, she blames the makeup.

“My god, he’s quite the romancer, isn’t he? No wonder every young girl in the world wanted to be kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio,” Winslet joked, adding, “It was not all it’s cracked up to be.”

She explained, “We kept doing this kiss, and I’ve got a lot of pale makeup on and I would have to do our makeup checks — on both of us, between takes — and I would end up looking as though I’d been sucking a caramel chocolate bar after each take because his makeup would come off on me.”

While she was dealing with his tan smears, DiCaprio looked as though “there was a bit missing from his face” thanks to the residue of her paler cosmetics. “Oh God, it was such a mess,” Winslet said.

The hectic experience didn’t stop there: Winslet also recalled banging her knee on the railing a few times and needing multiple takes to get everything just right.

“This was a nightmare,” Winslet said, rewatching the scene. “Leo couldn’t stop laughing, and we had to reshoot this about four times because [James Cameron] wanted a very specific light for this, obviously, and the sunsets kept changing where we were.”

Making matters worse, they duo were basically inaccessible to the makeup team during the shoot.

“This was a section of the ship, it wasn’t part of the actual whole ship set that we had,” she explained. “We had to climb up a ladder to get to it. Hair and makeup couldn’t reach us. Now, what you wouldn’t know because Leo looks completely natural but he had to lie on sunbeds and there’s a lot of fake tan makeup going on.”

Gesturing to her dress, Winslet said, “So I’ve got hidden his makeup and brushes and sponge and my makeup and brushes and sponge on the other side.”

The hassle of resetting aside, Winslet admitted that it was “quite funny” for her and DiCaprio to be “giggling and covered in each other’s makeup.”

Titanic later proved that it was worth all the trouble: the film won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, and remains one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

“I do feel very proud of it, because I feel that it is that film that just keeps giving,” Winslet said. “Whole other generations of people are discovering the film or seeing it for the first time and there’s something extraordinary about that.”

The only drawback is that to this day, Winslet can’t board a boat without being asked to reenact the beloved “I’m flying” scene. “It does my head in,” she said of the request, adding that she’s asked “every time, without fail.”

So does she do it? “Sometimes yes,” Winslet admitted. “Sometimes no.”

You can see Winslet revisit Titanic and several other entries from her filmography in the video above.