The movie James Cameron refused to cast Tom Cruise in: “I would have had to change the whole thing”

Tom Cruise is a bonafide needle-mover, box office catnip in an era where legitimate draws are getting harder and harder to come by. It’s no wonder, then, that the world’s greatest directors have fallen over themselves to work with him. Tony Scott, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner, Steven Spielberg, and more have all been converts to the church of Cruise, and they’ve all reaped the benefits of his star power.

However, even someone as big as Ethan Hunt isn’t impossible to turn down. There are some big names he’s never worked with, including James Cameron. The man behind the Terminator and Avatar series has paired up with some of the most famous actors of all time, but he once went out of his way not to put Cruise in one of his movies. But why would you say no to the man who Stanley Kubrick chose for his final ever film?

When discussing the process of making Titanic with Movieline magazine, Cameron explained why he denied the all-action man the part of Jack Dawson. “Tom Cruise was too old,” he confirmed. “He would have loved to have been in Titanic. He would have loved to play Jack. Now, I heard that from his agent and I didn’t talk to Tom about it, so I don’t know if that was bullshit or not. OK, I could have made a Tom Cruise movie, but I would have had to change the whole thing, and then it would have been Tom Cruise, who’s like, what, 35, in love with a 17-year-old girl.”

He might not look it, but Cruise was born in 1962. That makes him 13 years older than Kate Winslet, the woman who played his would-be love interest Rose. Of course, Leonardo DiCaprio ended up taking the role of Jack. He was born in 1974, making him only a year older than Winslet. In hindsight, it is impossible to picture anyone else as the cheeky, kind-hearted rogue, and even with all the success he’s had since, DiCaprio is still very closely associated with this character.

According to the Media Awareness Network, Cruise’s asking price was also too high for him to be involved in the film. He also wasn’t the only other actor who was turned down because of his age. Apparently, both Matthew McConaughey and Chris O’Donnell were suggested by the studio, but both were shown the door. McConaughey was then offered the part of Cal Hockley, Rose’s obnoxious fiancé, but he turned it down. Billy Zane took the role instead.

“There’s something so pure and innocent about these kids,” Cameron said about Rose and Jack. “She’s 17, he’s 19, there’s an innocence to that. Titanic is about the slaughter of innocence.” Ultimately, the director was absolutely bang on. DiCaprio and Winslet made the perfect combination, their doomed love affair serving as the emotional core of what is otherwise a disaster movie. Just imagine Cruise being the one hanging onto that door in the freezing waters? Can’t do it, can you?

Cruise probably wasn’t too upset about missing out on this gig, as the mid-to-late 90s were a very fruitful time for him. 1996 saw the release of both Mission: Impossible and Jerry Maguire and, three years later, he appeared in the aforementioned Kubrick swansong, Eyes Wide Shut.

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