Actress Kate Winslet ‘Traumatized’ From ‘Titanic,’ Says Testosterone-Hating Director James Cameron

Movie director James Cameron said in a recent interview that “Titanic” actress Kate Winslet was “traumatized” from making the blockbuster film.

The remarks from Cameron come after he gave an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the end of November about the second film of the Avatar movie franchise — “Avatar: The Way Of Water” — which took a decade to make and hits theaters later this month.

Cameron and Winslet reunited at an event for the upcoming movie, which hits theaters on December 16.

While speaking to the press, Winslet said that she might watch “Titanic” in honor of the 25th anniversary since the film was released but cautioned that she hates watching films that she has appeared in.

“Well, I might. I mean, I’m just not very good at watching myself on screen. It’s not just ‘Titanic,’ like I don’t like watching myself in anything,” she said on Monday. “I guess I probably will watch it.”

“I’m 47 years old now, guys, and I turned 21 when we were shooting that movie. So, it’s like half my lifetime ago,” she added. “It’s amazing and incredible to have been part of something that’s, you know, so steeped in nostalgia for people and still resonates with people in the way that it does. It’s a huge, huge honor that people still love something that I was a part of all those years ago.”

In an interview with the Radio Times, Cameron said that he thought Winslet “came out of ‘Titanic’ a bit traumatized by the scale of the production and her responsibility within it.”

“We’ve both been eager over time to work together again, to see what the other is about at this point in our lives and careers,” he added. “She’s very large and in charge on set. You’d swear she was producing the film.”

In his November interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron said that testosterone was a “toxin” that men should work out of their system.

Cameron, 68, said that he has changed as he has gotten older as his “F-bomb-laden shouting matches with executives is behind him,” the publication said.

“A lot of things I did earlier, I wouldn’t do — career-wise and just risks that you take as a wild, testosterone-poisoned young man,” he said. “I always think of [testosterone] as a toxin that you have to slowly work out of your system.”

During the interview, Cameron said that Leonardo DiCaprio’s “diva-like attitude” nearly cost him the iconic role of Jack in the 1997 blockbuster “Titanic.”

Cameron explained that his first meeting with DiCaprio actually went very well — although he noted that he was amused by the fact that all of the women associated with the production suddenly had a reason to be in the room for the actor’s first appearance.

“There was a meeting with Leo and there was a screen test with Leo,” Cameron reflected, adding, “So the meeting was funny, because I’m in my conference room waiting to meet an actor, right? And I look around, and all the women in the entire office are in the meeting for some reason. Like, there’s a female executive producer, okay, fine. But our accountant? You know, why was she in the meeting?”

Cameron laughed again, saying that he realized as he looked around the room that they had all just wanted to meet DiCaprio.

“So Leo came in — of course, charmed everybody, myself included,” Cameron continued, noting that actress Kate Winslet had already been chosen to play the part of Rose. “And I said, ‘Alright, let’s see what your chemistry’s like with Kate.’”

So DiCaprio was asked to come back for a meeting with Winslet, and he agreed — but when he arrived and Cameron asked him to read with her, the “Romeo + Juliet” star balked.

“He said, ‘You mean I’m reading?’” Cameron recalled. “And I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Oh, I don’t read.’”

The “Avatar” director’s response was to immediately thank DiCaprio for his time, at which point Cameron said the actor back-pedaled quickly. “He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait. You mean if I don’t read, I don’t get the part? Just like that?’”

Cameron said his reply was simple: “I said, ‘Oh, yeah. Come on. This is, like, a giant movie that’s gonna take two years of my life … so I’m not gonna f*** it up by making the wrong decision in casting. So you’re gonna read, or you’re not gonna get the part.’”

Virginia Kruta contributed to this report.