In Titanic, Claire Danes was almost the Rose to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack.

Danes reflected on her career decision to reject the role in the 1990s while speaking with actor Dax Shepherd on his podcast Armchair Expert.

Following the spectacular success of Danes and DiCaprio in 1996’s Romeo + Juliet, studio officials were naturally eager to put the two in another love drama together.

Danes, on the other hand, admits that she was worried about the level of stardom that would follow and if she was ready for it as a young actress.

‘I think I did. I’m not entirely clear on that. There was strong interest, but honestly, I’d just made this romantic epic with Leo in Mexico City, which is where they were going to shoot Titanic, and I just didn’t have it in me.’

DiCaprio “wrestled with the decision whether to do it or not,” according to Danes, who knew she didn’t want the part.

‘And I remember, Leo and I shared a manager at the time, and we were there at the office,’ she continued.

‘And I was on a balcony, which is funny… and Leo had this rental red convertible… and he was kinda going in circles in the parking lot.

‘And I knew he was wrestling with the decision to do that movie or not and he just looked up at me, and he said, “I’m doing it. I’m doing it”.’

“I could see he wasn’t sure,” she said, “but he was like f*** it, I’ve got to do this thing.”

‘I looked at him like I totally understand why he wanted to do that but I’m not ready for that. I remember after the movie came out and he just went into another stratosphere… It was a little scary. I just couldn’t do it, I didn’t want it.’

Danes has “zero regrets” about declining the part, which went to Kate Winslet and earned her the 1998 Best Actress Oscar.

Danes says, “I was just really clear about it. I wasn’t conflicted. I wasn’t.”

“It was going to propel me to something I knew I didn’t have the resources to cope with. I knew I had to do a lot of foundation building,” Danes explained.

The film went on to become one of the most successful of all time, grossing $2.1 billion (£1.6 billion) at the box office and earning James Cameron ten Academy Awards, including best picture and best director.

DiCaprio recently opened up about how the 1997 film affected his life after he was unexpectedly followed by paparazzi.

When asked when he realized his life would never be the same again, the 45-year-old responded, “Yeah, a film called Titanic.”

‘I was in my early twenties, then the movie came out and I just remember four SUVs outside my house one day and they just kept following me every day of my life and I was like OK, this life will no longer be the same.’