Leonardo DiCaprio was apparently not down with this iconic line from Titanic

When you think about the movie Titanic, what iconic lines come to mind? “Draw me like one of your French girls,” is an obvious one, but what about “I’m the king of the world!” Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack shouts it from the bow of the Titanic, unaware that it would be repeated by literally every person who ever went on a boat after 1997. Interestingly, that line was a last-minute add and DiCaprio didn’t want to say it.

On paper, “I’m the king of the world,” feels, well, cheesy. We guess it’s a testament to DiCaprio’s talent that he made it sound not only natural but aspirational. Director James Cameron recently talked to the BBC for their Movies That Made Me series about the story behind that iconic line.

“It was made up on the spot. I was in a crane basket, and we were losing the light. I had tried this and we had tried that, tried this line and that line and it was just coming up snake eyes, Cameron said. "And I said, ‘Alright, I’ve got one for you. Just say, 'I’m the king of the world,' and just spread your arms out wide and just be in the moment and just love it and just celebrate it and love it.’ And he goes, ‘What?’

DiCaprio wasn’t enthusiastic about the line, but Cameron told him to “just fucking sell it.” And he did.

When Cameron went on to win an Oscar for the film in 1998, he also shouted “I’m the king of the world” in his acceptance speech, and it was a tad awkward, which only further proved just how much DiCaprio was able to “sell it.”