Kate Winslet reveals the surprise Titanicreunion she had while filming Lee. After initially debuting at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, Lee had its theatrical release in the United Kingdom and in the United States in September 2024. Winslet played the titular role of journalist Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, with the biopic telling the story of the former fashion model who worked as a war correspondent during World War II. In addition to Winslet's leading performance in Lee, she was also one of the movie's producers.
While on The Graham Norton Show, Winslet shared how she unexpectedly reunited with Jonathan Evans-Jones, who played the violinist Wallace Hartley in Titanic. Hartley memorably plays the violin as the Titanic sinks, and when their playing concludes, tells his fellow violinists, "Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight." While Titanic is one of his few acting roles, Evans-Jones has been playing the violin in movies for nearly thirty years, with other credits including Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Batman. Check out Winslet's comments below:
I was looking through the glass into the stage where all the musicians are — huge, 120-piece orchestra. And I'm looking at this violinist and I thought, "I know that face." And then the day goes on, and a few of the musicians start going, "It's [him]!" and they're sort of pointing at him. I'm thinking, "Am I related to this person? Who is this person?" And at the end of the day, I thought, "Okay, I've got to go in." So I went in, and he went, "Kate, it's me!" You know when the Titanic is going down, and the violinist stands up, and he goes, "Come on, lads," and he starts playing? It was that guy! I'm like, "It's you!" It was wonderful.
It was him. It was just wonderful, and there he was. We had so many moments like that in the film, where people I've either worked before or really known for a long time [and] kind of grown up in the industry with, they just showed up for me, and it was incredible.
What This Means For Titanic
It Has Shaped Kate Winslet And Jonathan Evan-Jones' Careers
Both Winslet and Evans-Jones have had impressive careers in the 27 years since Titanic was released, but the James Cameron movie remains an iconic chapter in their careers. For Evans-Jones, this is not only because it is one of the few movies where he played the violin and acted. The musical and acting performance is one of the most emotional and enduring moments of Titanic, made more powerful by the fact that Hartley was a real individual, and actually did perform alongside his fellow musicians as the ship sank.
James Cameron's Titanic is a fictionalized love story set on the tragic 1912 voyage, but Kate Winslet's Rose was partially based on a real person.
Titanic's violinists' scene is a testament to the human spirit and to the power of art, even during the darkest and most hopeless of times. Meanwhile, as one of Kate Winslet's best movies, her Titanic performance remains her most iconic performance, and paved the way for other opportunities that would follow. Lee features one of the many riveting performances she has delivered in the years since Titanic, making it all the more meaningful to see her reuniting with Evans-Jones all these years later.
Our Take On The Titanic Reunion
Lee Was A Fitting Way For The Reunion To Happen
Unexpected reunions from beloved movies and television series are always special, but this Titanic reunion is further enhanced by Winslet's comments about Evans-Jones and many others from her life supporting Lee. It is a culmination of the decades of success that both Winslet and Evans-Jones have had. While this reunion is not visibly part of Lee, it adds another layer to the movie when knowing how it brought two of the most talented and important individuals from the Titanic back together.
Titanic is the 1997 blockbuster romantic/disaster epic based on the events surrounding the sinking of the legendary "unsinkable" vessel. Flashing back to the past and forward to the present, the film primarily follows the stories of the well-to-do and somewhat timid Rose and the poor but lively Jack, star-crossed lovers who meet aboard the doomed ship. In addition, the film tells true and fictionalized accounts of the passengers of the RMS Titanic, with an older Rose recounting her tale to the crew of a research ship.
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