Paul Rudd says he encouraged Leonardo DiCaprio to take up 'Titanic'

Los Angeles: James Cameron’s 1997 romance drama “Titanic” remains the crowning jewel in Leonardo DiCaprio’s filmography and he should be, in a way, thankful to actor Paul Rudd.

The “Ant-Man” star revealed that he had encouraged DiCaprio to take up the project.

Appearing on “The Graham Norton Show”, Rudd shared an anecdote from the days when he was starring with DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 tragedy “Romeo + Juliet”.

“It was my last day of filming on Romeo + Juliet and we all went out to bar afterward…We were in different cars and I was riding to the place with Leo and he said, ‘I just got offered this movie and it’s a big movie’,” Rudd, who essayed the role of Dave Paris in “Romeo + Juliet”, said.

“He said, ‘It’s a studio movie. It’s Titanic.’ And I said, ‘That’s incredible!’ and I knew a lot about Titanic since my dad just talks about Titanic all the time,” he added.

The 50-year-old actor said DiCaprio was uncertain about the film, which later went on to become the highest grossing feature in history at the time.

“He was saying, ‘Well, I don’t know what I’ll do,’ and I remember saying, ‘You should do it,'” Rudd recalled.

The actor then joked, “I don’t think I had any say, but it is kind of interesting to think back on that.”

“Titanic”, which also featured Kate Winslet as the female lead, was a blockbuster upon its release. The film won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Film, at the 1998’s Oscars.