Ethan Hawke Glad He Lost ‘Titanic’ Role That Turned Leonardo DiCaprio Into ‘A F***ing Beatle’

Ethan Hawke could have been “king of the world!”

The actor recently looked back on his audition for the 1997’s Titanic — and admitted he’s glad he lost the part of Jack Dawson to Leonardo DiCaprio.

“I don’t think I would have handled that success as well as Leo,” Hawke told GQ in an interview published on Monday, September 1.

“He was a fing Beatle.”

Hawke, 54, was fresh off the success of 1994’s Reality Bites when he screen-tested with Kate Winslet. “That was the moment that went from me being an actor to people knowing my name,” he recalled. “‘Oh, he’s one of those Dead Poets guys’ turned into ‘Oh, he’s him.’ ”

But he never coveted DiCaprio’s level of superstardom. “I never self-identified as a ‘movie star.’ I was allergic to that,” he told the outlet. “Having a trademark by my name and making a million dollars – that wasn’t part of my dream. Some people’s initial north star is to be fucking rich and have an airplane. I was super interested in the people who made a real contribution to the arts.”

So while Winslet, 49, and DiCaprio, 50, were busy filming the blockbuster, Hawke began work on the sci-fi thriller Gattaca — where he fell in love with his future wife, Uma Thurman. (The pair were wed in 1998 and divorced amid a “humiliating” swirl of publicity, Hawke told GQ.)

The Black Phone star wasn’t the only one to lose out to DiCaprio: Matthew McConaughey and Jeremy Sisto also screen-tested with Winslet, while Jared Leto reportedly refused to do so.

For his part, DiCaprio admitted in an interview with Esquire published on August 13 that his “biggest regret” was turning down Mark Wahlberg’s role in 1997’s Boogie Nights — because he was already committed to Titanic.