Being in the tabloids is &34;humiliating,&34; the fourtime Oscar nominee said. Ethan Hawke is glad he lost Titanic lead role to Leonardo DiCaprio: 'He was a fin

Being in the tabloids is "humiliating," the four-time Oscar nominee said.

Ethan Hawke is glad he lost Titanic lead role to Leonardo DiCaprio: 'He was a f---ing Beatle'

Being in the tabloids is "humiliating," the four-time Oscar nominee said.

By Raechal Shewfelt

September 1, 2025 5:01 p.m. ET

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Ethan Hawke said he's glad he lost out on the role of 'Titanic' character Jack. Credit:

Vivien Killilea/Getty; 20th Century Fox Film Corp/Courtesy Everett

Ethan Hawke is glad that it was Leonardo DiCaprio and not him cast as Jack Dawson, the leading man in James Cameron's 1997 epic *Titanic*.

"I don't think I would have handled that success as well as Leo," Hawke told *British GQ* in an interview published Monday. "He was a f---ing Beatle."

Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Charles, and Ethan Hawke sit together at a New York Knicks game in 2004.

James Devaney/WireImage

Hawke, who by that time had already starred in *Dead Poets Society*, *Reality Bites*, and *Before Sunrise*, doesn't think he was equipped to handle all the things that came along with the part in the romantic drama, costarring Kate Winslet, which was based on the real-life sinking of the same-named passenger ship in 1912.

*Titanic* went on to earn more than $2.2 billion worldwide, per Box Office Mojo, and it catapulted DiCaprio into starring roles in high-profile movies, including *Catch Me If You Can*, *The Aviator*, and *Blood Diamond*, the latter two for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

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Ethan Hawke reveals why Denzel Washington said it was better that he lost at 2002 Oscars

Instead, Hawke spent that era in movies such as *Gattaca*, in which he costarred with Uma Thurman, *Great Expectations*, and *Hamlet*. But he only found himself in the throes of the kind of fame that prevents you from living a normal life when he and Thurman began a relationship while making the sci-fi thriller.

"It's humiliating," Hawke said of being in the tabloids. "It's almost humiliating even when they're saying positive things."

Hawke and Thurman married in 1998 and welcomed daughter Maya in July of that year and a son, Levon, in 2002. They divorced in 2005.

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But Hawke's career has not suffered. He's shown up regularly in hits, and his peers in the entertainment industry have recognized him for his work with, for instance, four Oscar nominations.

He also put a positive spin on not having won an Academy Award, which he picked up from being nominated for best supporting actor the 2001 crime drama *Training Day*.

He recalled that his costar, Denzel Washington, had whispered to him after he lost that night that it was better he had lost: "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."**

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Source: "AOL Movies"

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Source: VOGUE MAG

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