Kate Winslet's Titanic Nude Scene Led To Some Extremely Awkward Moments
Although it was created as a work of art by director James Cameron for his Oscar-winning best picture "Titanic," the nude image of Kate Winslet's Rose Dewitt Bukater in the film is a ghost of the abyss that continues to manifest itself in unusual ways. In the nude scene, Rose disrobes for her soon-to-be-lover Jack Dawson — a gifted artist — so he can sketch her in charcoal. Paying Jack for the portrait, Rose tells Jack, "The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a porcelain doll." As such, Rose wears nothing but the "Heart of the Ocean" necklace containing an invaluable blue diamond. It's the same necklace that old Rose (Gloria Stuart) throws in the ocean at the end of "Titanic."
Re-creations of the nude image of Rose that Jack sketches have been presented by fans for Winslet to autograph at premieres — creating some extremely awkward moments for the actor. "I don't sign that [picture]. It feels really uncomfortable. Why would you do that?" Winslet told Yahoo! Movies UK in 2014. "... People ask me to sign that [picture] a lot."
Winslet told the publication that someone has screen-captured an image from the film that has made the rounds over the years. "It's like, 'No! I didn't mean for it to be a photograph that I would end up seeing 16, 17 years later,'" Winslet told Yahoo! Movies. "... It is actually still haunting me."
The nude image has also invaded Winslet's home life
While it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that the nude image of Kate Winslet as Rose in "Titanic" has been presented to her by fans, the actor said sometimes the image hits closer to home. "My daughter actually had [an encounter] at school. It was quite weird. She said that someone came up to her having figured out after four years of being at school together that I was her mom, and she went, 'Oh my God. I've seen your mom's boobs!'" Winslet said on "The Graham Norton Show."
While "Titanic" won 11 Academy Awards and garnered a best actress nomination for Winslet, the film also tossed the actor overboard into waters infested with mean-spirited journalists who criticized her body in their coverage. "What I really remember vividly is that when I did 'Titanic' and was so thrust into the public eye, I was shocked and horrified by how vilified I was by mainstream media," Winslet told Vogue in May 2023.
Now, more than 25 years after the release of the film, Winslet said that the mainstream media has smartened up and backed off on body shaming. "Sure, that stuff happens on social media, amongst people and the public sharing opinions — some people just have nasty s*** to say," Winslet told Vogue. "But mainstream media behaving in these really irresponsible damaging ways — I do think that has actually stopped."
In "Titanic," the nude sketch of Rose was discovered as an exploration crew led by Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) salvaged some wreckage from the sunken vessel. Paxton and James Cameron returned to view the real Titanic in the 2003 documentary film "Ghosts of the Abyss."