Anything Tom Cruise can do, Kate Winslet can do better.
The Titanic star has revealed she smashed the action star’s on-set record for underwater breath-holding during filming of the new Avatar sequel by a whole minute and 15 seconds.
Kate stayed submerged for seven minutes and 15 seconds as she filmed Avatar: The Way Of Water, beating Tom’s previous record of six minutes achieved on the set of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.
The British actor, who plays Metkayina matriarch Ronal in the upcoming film, said she has video evidence of the achievement, which was filmed by her husband who had sneaked on to the set during production.
Speaking at a global press conference ahead of the film’s launch she said: “I actually have a video of when I surface from that breath-hold.
“And the only reason I have it is because my husband snuck in.
“I said, ‘Please don’t come because I just don’t want you videoing. I’ll just feel pressure, just please don’t do that’ and he snuck in.”
She continued: “I have the video of me surfacing saying, ‘Am I dead? Have I died?’ And then going ‘what was it?’ – straightaway I wanted to know my time.
“I couldn’t believe that it was 7.15 but having been told it’s 7.15 – you want to know what the next thing I say is? We need to radio set.
“I wanted (Cameron) to know right way, that’s the first thing I wanted to do – it definitely wasn’t a competition.”
The Avatar sequel has reunited Kate and director James Cameron on set for the first time since the 1997 blockbuster Titanic.
The director admitted joked that he was “pissed” about Kate’s achievement because “I’ve been a free diver for 50 years and you smoked past me and everybody else.”
Kate said that when coming back to work with the filmmaker she had expected “the absolute best of everything” because of the director’s “precision” and “meticulous” thought.
The original sci-fi epic from 2009 became the highest-grossing film of all time and went on to win three Oscars for its stunning visual effects, cinematography and art direction.
It was set in 2154 and followed paraplegic marine Jake Sully, sent to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, which becomes challenged when he falls for Zoe Saldana’s other-worldly blue princess Neytiri.
The sequel is set more than a decade after the events of the first film and sees Jake settle down with Neytiri and their three children in the Na’vis’ rainforest home.
Once a familiar threat returns, Jake, played by Sam Worthington, must work with Neytiri, Zoe Saldana, and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their planet.
On Tuesday, Kate and her co-stars including Sigourney Weaver attended the world premiere in central London for the highly anticipated sequel.
Avatar: The Way Of Water hits cinemas on December 16.