James Cameron's "Titanic" remains one of the highest-grossing movies in history. However, the movie considered many actresses and personalities to play the lead roles, and the list included Madonna.
The Queen of Pop found more fame as a singer than an actress, though she has been able to star in more than 20 feature films and around 11 short films. In fact, she almost got the chance to star in what-wound-have-been her most successful project as an actress when she was considered to play Rose's role in "Titanic."
"Titanic" Had a Long List of Potential Characters for Rose's Role
Before Cameron worked on the film, there was a long list of actresses who almost scored the role.
HuffPost released the complete list, and it included the "Material Girl" hitmaker's name. Among the other A-listers who almost made it to the lead role were Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Winona Ryder, Reese Witherspoon, and Drew Barrymore, to name a few.
However, the "Titanic" director opted to star Winslet, who was still working at a sandwich shop at that time.
Despite not having an established acting career, Winslet soon became one of the most famous actresses for playing the iconic role and outshined the list of potential stars.
On the other hand, Leonardo DiCaprio also competed with other celebrities for the role like Johnny Depp, Macaulay Culkin, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, and Matthew McConaughey.
After careful consideration, "Titanic" hailed Winslet and DiCaprio to play the lead characters instead.
Madonna Beaten By "Titanic"
While Madonna continued her career despite not being able to star in the Cameron movie, she was also surpassed by the film when its movie soundtrack dominated the top spot of different charts.
According to SoundScan (via Rolling Stone), "Titanic" scored the top spot after selling 476,000 copies, while Madonna's "Ray of Light" only sold 371,000 copies. It, however, broke the "Evita" soundtrack record and tripled its value with her album release.
The top hit songs were followed by music from Celine Dion, Silkk the Shock, K-Ci & Jo Jo, and Usher.
Madonna's final major acting appearance was in "Arthur and the Invisibles" in 2006, when she served as one of the character's voice actresses. She started focusing on her music career and tried other gigs in different industries, including works as an executive producer of films, director, and supporting different projects related to human rights and artistic freedom.
