December 17, 2022
Kate Winslet pushed her limits for the epic sci-fi movie Avatar: The Way of Water as she performed an incredible stunt of holding her breath while filming an underwater scene.
The Titanic star, who broke the record – previously held by Tom Cruise, revealed that she assumed she was ‘dead’ after coming up for air at the seven-minute, 15-second mark.
“I have the video of me surfacing saying, ‘Am I dead, have I died?’ And then going, ‘What was [my time]?'” the Reader actress told Total Film magazine (via Games Radar).
Winslet added, “Straight away I wanted to know my time. And I couldn’t believe it…The next thing I say is, ‘We need to radio set.’ I wanted Jim to know right away.”
Avatar director James Cameron later quipped, “She’s not competitive at all.” The Mare of Easttown actress explained, “Well, I didn’t have to hold my breath for over seven minutes.”
“It’s just that the opportunity to set a record presented itself. I wanted to break my own record, which was already six minutes and 14 seconds. And I was like, ‘Come on!’ So I smashed my own record by a minute,” she added.
Cruise held the record of holding his breath for six-minutes while filming an underwater scene for the 2015 hit Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation.
Winslet reunited with Cameron for the latest Avatar installment. The sequel comes 13 years after the original Avatar movie released in 2009.