Kate Winslet 'Couldn't Stop Crying' When She Reunited with Leonardo DiCaprio After Three Years

Winslet also belatedly chastises DiCaprio for complaining to the press about how miserable he was during the most challenging parts of filming their 1997 blockbuster "Titanic."

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were not new to the Hollywood experience, or acclaim or even being famous before they paired together in what became the highest grossing film of all time.

The overwhelming success of "Titanic" in 1997 (and '98) cemented them both as bona fide movie stars, and it also cemented their bond as lifelong friends. Now, 24 years later, they've known each other longer than they didn't before the film.

And while they worked together again in the 2008 film "Revolutionary Road," most of their off-screen relationship has been running into one another at various events, awards shows, and just making time for friends when he was in London or she was in Los Angeles.

Now, though, deep into a global pandemic, it had been three long years since the pair had reunited, and that proved too long for Winslet, who surprised herself with her reaction when they reconnected in Los Angeles recently.

"I couldn’t stop crying," she told The Guardian. "I’ve known him for half my life! It’s not as if I’ve found myself in New York or he’s been in London and there’s been a chance to have dinner or grab a coffee and a catchup. We haven’t been able to leave our countries. Like so many friendships globally, we’ve missed each other because of Covid. He’s my friend, my really close friend. We’re bonded for life."

It's clear how much that friendship means to her, but that doesn't mean she's going to let him off the hook -- even if it is nearly three decades later.

When the interviewer jokingly shared that when they met DiCaprio during the "Titanic" era of their lives, he'd complained about being miserable during the challenging shoot. Much has been written and shown about how immersive and difficult the shoot became as they moved into the ship sinking and water portions of the film.

And yet, Winslet still couldn't resist jabbing at her friend, laughing that she remembered him complaining to the media about that, as well. "It wasn’t pleasant for any of us, but we were all in it together -- though he had way more days off than I ever bloody did," she laughed.

"I guess I was raised to be grateful and just get on with it," she added. "I didn’t feel it was my right to be miserable, and if I was miserable I certainly would not have let a journalist know. There is no way I would have let that slip!"

The film went way over-budget and was almost declared doomed and dead before its theatrical release, when it quickly became a cultural phenomenon, becoming the first film to earn a billion dollars, and nabbing a record-high 11 Oscars along the way, an honor it still holds alongside "Ben-Hur" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."