In the late 1980s, Leonardo DiCaprio began a humble child acting career, starting out in commercials before proving his true talent through a scattering of television programmes. His first significant film role came in 1993 when he portrayed Toby Wolff opposite Robert De Niro in the critically acclaimed drama This Boy’s Life. That same year, he appeared opposite Johnny Depp in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, this performance earning DiCaprio his first Oscar nomination.

DiCaprio’s career would continue to bloom throughout the decade, with James Cameron’s landmark historical romance Titanic marking a colossal early career milestone. As it transpires, Depp had been among several actors considered for DiCaprio’s role as Jack Dawson, but he turned it down.

Speaking to Howard Stern in 2001, Depp revealed that he declined the role because, at 180 pages, the script was a daunting read. “I laboured through about 15 pages of Titanic,” he admitted.

In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Depp returned to the subject, expressing a degree of regret about not taking on the audacious project, which has now earned a titanic $2.2 billion. After joking about the potential of a Titanic remake filmed entirely from his bathtub, Depp sighed, “That would be great, but Hollywood never takes risks anymore.”

Interstellar star Matthew McConaughey was also among the Jack Dawson candidates. Unlike Depp, he had yet to break through in his career, with his first major leading role in 1996’s A Time to Kill still yet to arrive at the time.

McConaughey appeared for an audition during which he first met Kate Winslet. “I auditioned with Matthew, which was completely fantastic. It just wouldn’t have been the whole Jack and Rose, Kate and Leo thing,” Winslet once revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Following the audition, McConaughey felt confident he had landed the role. “I wanted that,” McConaughey revealed while appearing on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “I auditioned with Kate Winslet. Had a good audition. Walked away from there pretty confident that I had it. I didn’t get it. I never got offered that.”

Speaking to The Scotsman on another occasion, McConaughey revealed that, in the late 1990s, he was more famous for having missed out on Titanic than for his roles in A Time to Kill and Amistad. “My stock went down,” he lamented.

Continuing, McConaughey revealed why he was attracted to the Titanic role. “I was looking to shake things up,” he said. “I was looking for self-determined, singularly willed, fringe characters that didn’t need to pander to convention or didn’t need to pander to even a plot in some ways. And there’s a singular mind and a goal that each one of the characters I’ve been playing lately has.”