'Today' - February 1998
I
have transcribed the "Today" Show interview with Matt Lauer, early
1998 (about three weeks before the Academy Awards):
Co-hosts Matt
and Katie Couric previewed their upcoming segments, along with Al Roker:
Matt: Kate Winslet's very happy because she's getting 50% of the profits.
Katie: Wow!
Matt: No, that's not true. Because she's an Oscar-nominated actress from that movie. We'll talk to her in a few minutes.
Katie: She's great. I love her. She's so beautiful. Did you see her in 'Sense and Sensibility'?
Al: Yes.
Katie: That's your kind of movie, isn't it?
Al: I actually enjoyed 'Sense and Sensiblity.'
Katie: You did? See!
Matt: I didn't see it, I'm sorry.
Katie: I think you should have.
[Flying scene
from 'Titanic']
Matt:
Rose, by another name, is Kate Winslet, who has been nominated as Best Actress
for her portrayal of Titanic's lovely Rose. Kate, good morning, congratulations.
Kate: Thank you very much.
We did a little research. We put our crack research team to work last night, and we found out…
[Teasing]
Oh, no, don't tell me what you found out! You're so funny,
Matt.
Let me tell you. You are the youngest actress - or actor - ever to receive two Academy Award nominations.
Really?!
Ever!
Well, that's a surprise. I didn't know that. God!
Mickey Rooney had two by the time he was twenty-three.
I'm twenty-two.
You knocked him off his lofty perch by one year.
So,
there you go!
How does that
make you feel?
Well, it's extraordinary. I mean, it's extraordinary to think that kind of thing can happen when, as an actor, you never really think about those things. You never think about nominations, or awards, or anything.
You never think about it?
Not really. You so much think about the job that you're doing, and doing the work as best as you possibly can, and the finished result, and being as honest as you can. But, then those things start to happen and you think, 'God, it's amazing.' It's an amazing, amazing thing. And it just goes to show just how many people are seeing this movie, and how many people love it.
What's kind of ironic is that you have had all this success with this role, people say such wonderful things - you had to basically harass the director, James Cameron, just to get considered for this role.
Well, what actually happened, the truth, and here you have it from the horse's mouth - the truth was, I had been sent the film treatment, which is a sort of a broken down, shorter version of the final story. And read it and I loved it, and then, yes, made endless telephone calls saying, 'please meet me for this, please meet me for this. Let me show you that I think I can do this.' And so there was a lot of that that went on.
The story is you actually got his cell phone number and you called him when he was in his car.
He was in his car, yes.
And he had to pull over to the side of the road because he needed to talk to you.
Well, that's true, that is absolutely true, but I needed to talk to him. I had to tell him I was very passionate about it, and I don't believe in sort of holding back. You know, life isn't a dress rehearsal.
The stories of how this shoot went are legendary. I mean, it was a grueling shoot - twenty-hour days, in cold water, or hanging from a wire from the mast. Did you ever, in the middle of this shoot, when you're wrinkled like a prune, think, 'why did even want this job?'
No, I never thought that, but it was a hard job, yes it was. But, really, to be honest with you, the thing that was hardest about it was not things like the special effects or the water, because we just got used to that. But, it was more Leo and I realizing that we were creating a love story, and that had to be the thing that was going to break the audience's heart. Not, you know, another Titanic movie, or a movie about special effects and a sinking ship. So, that was the thing that was hard to hang onto in the midst of everything else.
But, I thought it was interesting because you said if the water had been warmer and more pleasant to work in, you might not have been able to give the same type of portrayal.
That's absolutely true, that's absolutely true, yes. I said to Jim Cameron, 'please, please don't heat the water up because we'll get all hot and stuffy and sweaty, and we won't we able to do our job properly, and we'll feel suffocated.' So, I did ask for that. And, if you think about it, in reality they would have been in cold water, much colder than the water that we were in. So, it did help, and all that shivering was absolutely real.
More realistic that way.
Yeah.
I'm sitting here listening to you now with your lovely accent, and it always impresses me, because if you go back and look at the movie, you have mastered an American accent.
Do you know, you're the first person that's actually said anything to me about the accent. It's so sort of forgotten about, and part of me thinks, 'maybe it's so terrible that no one wants to say anything, or maybe people don't notice.'
No, I thought it was very good, but you said you had to work very hard at it.
I did, yes, I did, because a period American accent is quite difficult to do anyway. And, so, there was a lot of work focused on that and the specific area of Philadelphia that she came from that I had to do, and researching, and everything. But, it was endless days of 'Rude Ruth's two rooms are near the school's pool,' and that kind of thing. And I had a fantastic dialect coach named Susan Haggerty, who was there with me every day, and on set with me every day. And she'd come in and sometimes pick up on the tiniest little things, and it really was a help. But, it was a constant extra job for me to be doing.
Let's get all the young ladies upset again, OK, because Leonardo DiCaprio is a heart-throb. All the women love this guy, and they were furious when he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award. Do you think he was snubbed?
It is a shame, it's a real shame. I mean, he gives such a wonderful performance, but, as far as I am concerned - and Leo and I had a very long conversation about this on the telephone - I know that I wouldn't have been able to do any of what I did without Leo. So, I've been able to convert it in my head, and go, 'well, it's both of us, really,' cause it absolutely feels like that to me.
But, how did he feel when you talked to him on the phone? Was he upset about it?
No, I mean, he wasn't, he wasn't upset, because he's an actor, he loves his job. And at the end of the day he was just so thrilled that the movie had been nominated for so many awards. And I said to him, 'you're no less a part of that just because you haven't been nominated,' and he said, 'oh, no, no, no, I know that, I know that.' So, he was fine, he was very grown up about it.
Going into the shooting, I understand that you thought, 'well now, I'm gonna be working with this guy for a long time, he's kind of…'
He's
kind of cute. [Kate laughs, eyes twinkling]
Kind of cute. Maybe there could be some romance that would be sparked, but I hear it didn't happen, though, did it?
No, it didn't happen. I mean, I have to say, I did think all of those things. I thought, 'we've got to get Leonardo DiCaprio, he's so beautiful, and he's such a wonderful actor.' I mean, as far as I'm concerned, he's…
You're
thinkin' maybe you'd hit on him a little bit?
Well,
I just kept thinking, 'you know he's one of the greatest actors of this century,
and I've got to have him.' But, I 
met
him, and I just saw this wonderful, open, very warm person who is just so
brilliant at his job, but it was friendship all the way, friendship all the way.
[Looks at camera] Sorry, girls.
You're twenty-two years old, you are now in the highest grossing movie of all time, two Oscar nominations to your credit.
It's bizarre.
But, how do you… Do you worry at all about following this up, about topping this?
Not really. It is a very strange time, because before 'Titanic' I was well known, and I would occasionally get recognized in the street, and things like that. But, I'm a bit famous now. [Laughs] It's very strange.
Is it bothersome?
No, it's not bothersome. You have to get used to that and go, 'well, it's not gonna stop.' You know, I'll always be 'that celebrity,' even if I'm not working, even if I haven't got a movie out. So, it's something that I'm just sort of adjusting to, actually. But, it's fine and, you know, it does go to show that it's all about the success of 'Titanic,' which, of course, meant so much to me. So, you know, I can't complain. It's a very new thing for me, this fame.
You're getting used to it.
I'm
getting used to it.
Everybody says, 'it's just so wonderful to be nominated.' But, you know what? Everybody wants to win. Have you thought about what you might say if you get up there?
I have to confess - yes, I have, but purely because, and this isn't because I think I'm going to win, cause I genuinely don't… And I would like to see Judi Dench win, I really would. She's a wonderful actress, and gives such a wonderful performance in 'Mrs. Brown.' But, I have thought about it just because if that did happen in some bizarre world, if that did happen, I wouldn't want to stand there and forget anyone. I'd want to thank all the people I love and who were so much a part of 'Titanic.' And so, there's a bit of a something going on in my head at the moment.
I hope you get to say it.
Thank you.
Good luck. Nice seeing you.
Thank you, you too.
