‘Titanic’ Turns 25: Team’s Stance On That Infamous Door Debate

By Becca Longmire. 19 Dec 2022 2:07 PM

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since “Titanic” was released in theatres and director James Cameron started one of the most infamous movie debates of all time.

To celebrate the milestone anniversary, ET Canada is taking a look back at what cast members have had to say about whether or not Jack could have really fit on that door with Rose.

Cameron is even planning to end the arguments once and for all. Scroll to the last slide to see how.

Everett Collection/CP Images

Everett Collection/CP Images

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Everett Collection/CP Images

Photo: James Cameron Fires Back At Any Trolls Criticizing ‘Avatar’ Runtime: ‘Give Me A F**king Break’

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Kate Winslet
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Kate Winslet, who played Rose in the movie, has finally voiced her opinion on whether her character could have actually moved over a little to let her love interest onto the floating piece of wood.

She told the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast: “I don’t f**king know. That’s the answer. I don’t f**king know."

The actress insisted, “If you put two adults on a stand-up paddleboard, it becomes immediately unstable.

“I actually don’t believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door. It would not have been a sustainable idea... yes, he could have fit on that door, but it would not have stayed afloat.”
Leonardo DiCaprio
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Jack himself has refused to comment on the door controversy, laughing in an interview with MTV News: "I have no comment."
Celine Dion
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Voice of "Titanic", Celine Dion, who belted out the "My Heart Will Go On" soundtrack, was asked by Jimmy Fallon what she thought about the door debate.

The Canadian hitmaker insisted, "First of all, if you look closely to the picture, Rose is maybe dead or totally frozen and she’s not quite all there.

“Okay? Second of all, he doesn’t need an invitation.”

She jokingly added, “Come on baby, make yourself comfortable! Jump in, you know? And then, who did not think about this guy who is in the middle of the frozen ocean and that maybe all his body is so frozen that he didn’t have the strength to jump in… for my love,” singing The Pointer Sisters' classic hit.
Billy Zane
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Billy Zane, who starred as Cal, called the whole debacle "just good storytelling" in an interview with People.

"Your hero had to die," the actor laughed. "I don't know what else would have done it. It had to happen."
Frances Fisher
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Frances Fisher, who played Rose's mom Ruth Dewitt Bukater, told Vulture she was "tired" of hearing about the infamous debate, but added: "Well, so many people have done the measurements and this and that: 'They would have sunk, because it wasn’t that sturdy,' blah, blah, blah.

"That whole thing is so silly to me. The story wouldn’t have been told the way it ended up. He had to die."
James Cameron
Photo: James Cameron Fires Back At Any Trolls Criticizing ‘Avatar’ Runtime: ‘Give Me A F**king Break’
Director James Cameron is hoping to end the debate once and for all by releasing a documentary to prove that Jack couldn't have survived.

“We have done a scientific study to put this whole thing to rest and drive a stake through its heart once and for all,” Cameron told Postmedia.

“We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie and we’re going to do a little special on it that comes out in February. We took two stunt people who were the same body mass of Kate and Leo and we put sensors all over them and inside them and we put them in ice water and we tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was, there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive.”

The Canadian movie-maker, who previously criticized "all the dumbass arguments" associated with the debate, added, "He needed to die. It’s like Romeo and Juliet. It’s a movie about love and sacrifice and mortality. The love is measured by the sacrifice.”

‘Titanic’ Turns 25: Team’s Stance On That Infamous Door Debate

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