Ethan Hawke Is Glad He Lost Titanic Role to Leonardo DiCaprio: ‘Don’t Think I Would Have Handled That Success as Well’

“He was a f—— Beatle,” Hawke said of DiCaprio, who starred as Jack Dawson in the 1997 film

Ethan Hawke poses at the “Blue Moon” photocall during the 75th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Grand Hyatt Hotel on February 18, 2025 in Berlin, Germany., Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.

Ethan Hawke is glad he lost out on the lead role in Titanic to Leonardo DiCaprio.

“I don’t think I would have handled that success as well as Leo,” Hawke, 54, told British GQ in an interview published Monday, Sept. 1. “He was a f—ing Beatle.”

DiCaprio, 50, played Jack Dawson, the romantic lead in James Cameron’s 1997 historical epic about the 1912 sinking of the Titanic.

Despite his hesitance at how he would have handled the fame that DiCaprio attracted for his role in Titanic, Hawke had already starred in Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, and Before Sunrise before the Academy Award-winning film was released.

DiCaprio starred in Titanic opposite Kate Winslet. The film largely brought his career to new heights, paving the way for future roles in 2002’s Catch Me If You Can, 2004’sThe Aviator, and 2006’s Blood Diamond, the latter two for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Ethan Hawke attends the Blue Moon premiere during the 75th Berlin International Film Festival Berlin at Berlinale Palast on February 18, 2025 in Berlin, Germany.

Hawke went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor in the 2001 crime drama Training Day.

Despite not winning, he recalled that his costar, Denzel Washington, whispered to him after he lost that night:

“You don’t want an award to improve your status,” Hawke said on Max’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.

“You want to improve the award’s status.”

In 1997, Hawke instead costarred opposite his now ex-wife Uma Thurman in Gattaca. The couple tied the knot in 1998, and Thurman, 55, filed for divorce in 2004.

The pair officially split in 2005.

“It’s humiliating,” Hawke said of the attention surrounding their divorce.

“It’s almost humiliating even when they’re saying positive things.”

The former couple share daughter Maya, 27, and son Levon, 23.

Hawke will soon appear in She Dances and Black Phone 2.