Leonardo DiCaprio Says He’s Never Watched Titanic: ‘I Don’t Really Watch My Films’

Leonardo DiCaprio may be forever associated with Titanic, but the actor has now revealed that he has never actually watched the iconic 1997 blockbuster. The Oscar-winning star made the surprising admission

during a recent conversation with Jennifer Lawrence for Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors, published on Wednesday, December 17.

During the chat, Lawrence, 35, brought up DiCaprio’s most famous role and asked him directly if he had ever revisited Titanic. DiCaprio, now 51, responded without hesitation, “No. I haven’t seen it before.”

Lawrence appeared genuinely surprised and encouraged her former Don’t Look Up co-star to finally give it a watch. “Oh, you should. I bet you could watch it now, it’s so good,” she said. DiCaprio, however, explained that avoiding his own films is something of a personal rule. “I don’t really watch my films, do you?” he asked her in return.

Jennifer Lawrence Jokes About Watching Her Own Films

Lawrence admitted she feels similarly about revisiting her past work, though she joked that Titanic might have been an exception if it were hers. “No,” she replied, adding humorously, “I’ve never made something like Titanic — if I did I would watch it. Once I was really drunk, I put on American Hustle. I was like, ‘I wonder if I’m good at acting?’ I put it on, and I don’t remember what the answer is.”

DiCaprio’s reluctance to watch his own performances is not new. The actor has spoken openly in the past about distancing himself from finished projects once they are released, preferring to move forward rather than look back.
‘I Rarely Watch Any Of My Films’

In an August interview with Esquire, DiCaprio echoed the same sentiment while speaking to One Battle After Another director Paul Thomas Anderson. “I rarely watch any of my films,” he said, before admitting there was one notable exception. “But if I’m being honest, there’s one that I have watched more than others. It’s The Aviator.”

Explaining why that film holds special significance, DiCaprio said it marked a turning point in his career. “That’s simply because it was such a special moment to me. I had worked with Marty [Scorsese] on Gangs of New York, and I’d been toting around a book on Howard Hughes for 10 years.” By the time The Aviator was made, DiCaprio said he felt more creatively invested than ever before, describing it as the first time he felt like a true collaborator rather than just a hired actor.

Despite DiCaprio never watching it himself, Titanic, directed by James Cameron and co-starring Kate Winslet, went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Reflecting on its impact in a 2016 interview with Deadline, DiCaprio said, “Titanic was very much an experiment for Kate Winslet and I… We did it, and it became something that we could’ve never foreseen.”