There are some movie roles that become so memorable for an actor’s portrayal that it is hard to imagine any other performer in that part. The idea of a remake alone seems absurd, let alone a recast for a sequel. Sometimes, it can be even hard to accept the notion that the performer we so deeply associate with said role had to audition for it and that they could’ve been replaced by someone else. These are your Terminators (Arnold Schwarzenegger), your Brides (Uma Thurman), your Professor Snapes (Alan Rickman)… The list goes on. Though it might not seem like it at first, two characters that definitely belong on this list are Titanic‘s Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater, played marvelously by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. One of the greatest love stories of the 20th century, Jack and Rose’s tragic romance is so deeply rooted in our collective memories that it can be difficult to picture them as mere fictional people that could be played by different actors. Heck, questions about whether Jack and Rose were actually real are among the first suggestions Google gives searchers when they try to look up the 1997 film. But Rose was almost played by an entirely different actress — Gwyneth Paltrow — all because director James Cameron didn’t want to be obvious with his casting choices.
