Leonardo DiCaprio came close to never playing his arguably most famous and iconic character when he somewhat butted heads with James Cameron during the audition process for Titanic.

In a video career retrospective for GQ published Tuesday, the Oscar-winning filmmaker spent a good portion of time talking about his 1997 historical drama epic, which for a span of years was the top-grossing film of all time.

Beyond his initial consideration of rebuilding the entire doomed ship (which launched in 1911 and sank on April 15, 1912), and his liking for Gwyneth Paltrow in the role of Rose before he met Kate Winslet, Cameron spilled on casting DiCaprio as Jack, which almost fell apart over the actor’s poor attitude during auditions.

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“There was a meeting with Leo and then there was a screen test with Leo,” Cameron said, setting the scene. “The meeting was funny because I am sitting in my conference room, waiting to meet an actor. And I look around, and all the women in the entire office are in the meeting. They all wanted to meet Leo. It was hysterical.”

Read more: People