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Leonardo DiCaprio once named his favourite on-screen kissing partner
In the 1990s, the bedroom walls of teenagers were, more often than not, plastered with photographs of Leonardo DiCaprio, Hollywood’s rising talent and heartthrob. The actor burst into global consciousness in 1993 with an outstanding performance acting opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy’s Life before joining fellow pin-up Johnny Depp in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
By the mid-90s, DiCaprio was hounded by highly-esteemed directors for lead roles. The two lucky filmmakers at the time were Baz Luhrmann, who cast DiCaprio for his modernised take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and James Cameron, who set his sights on a groundbreaking drama set onboard the catastrophic maiden voyage of the Titanic.
Watching both films, fans around the world lost themselves in a reverie, picturing themselves in place of Juliet (Claire Danes) or Rose Dawson (Kate Winslet). But which of DiCaprio’s on-screen flames did he enjoy a smooch with the most?
If you have caught wind of DiCaprio and Winslet’s heartwarming off-screen friendship, you might have already guessed it. Indeed, DiCaprio revealed that he has a soft spot for Winslet’s lips during a 2004 conversation with Oprah Winfrey. A member of the audience asked the actor who his favourite on-screen kissing partner was, to which he responded, “I’m going to go with Kate Winslet.. good old, classic…”
Despite this revelation, Winslet denounced the conviction of DiCaprio’s answer in a subsequent interview with Extra. “He said I was the best kiss that he ever had on-screen,” she said. “I can tell you right now he hated it. And he would complain bitterly [whenever they had to kiss.]”
This may be true, but DiCaprio wasn’t hesitant to kiss Winslet out of shyness or repugnance. As Winslet and DiCaprio later clarified, they were slathered in wildly contrasting foundation shades on the set of Titanic. “I would have a different colour base than she did,” DiCaprio explained, “And our makeup would swap.”
“I would end up with this really unattractive brown-orange colour,” Winslet chimed in.
“Because I had to be the tan outdoorsy-man,” DiCaprio continued, “While she was the pale aristocrat.”
Perhaps through their mutual abhorrence for messy makeup mixing kisses, the actors have remained close over the past 25 years since their first film together, with Winslet calling DiCaprio her “closest friend in the world” and DiCaprio referring to Winslet as his “favourite actress in the industry.”
Watch the Titanic scene where Jack and Rose meet for the first time below.
