News culture Don’t be fooled by the character of Countess von Rothes in the movie Titanic. This woman is a true heroine!
Although much of Titanic is based on a fictional story, James Cameron still wanted to pay tribute to the castaways by including several real people in his feature film. This is the case of the Countess of Rothes, a character who may seem haughty but who was in fact a true heroine.
Based on a true story
With Titanic, James Cameron worked to combine fiction and reality as best as possible to give us one of the greatest films of all time. Although the two protagonists never existed, the filmmaker still wanted to include several characters in his work who had actually experienced the Titanic tragedy.
Paul Burns, Vice President and Curator of Titanic Museum Attractions, said: “James Cameron wanted to mix Rose and Jack, especially in first class, with real passengers“. A wish confirmed by the historian Don Lynch, who explained that the filmmaker had already selected several real passengers of the Titanic to insert into his script. In fact, in the film we find several of these castaways, such as Margaret Brown (Kathy Bates) or the violinist Wallace Hartley (Jonathan Evans-Jones).
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Shadow Heroine
Many people stood out in the sinking of the Titanic, and these heroic figures are honored by their appearance in James Cameron’s film. But although the story focuses primarily on Rose and Jack, some tributes are inevitably more discreet than others. For example, the feature film features Noël Leslie, the Countess of Rothes, played by Rochelle Rose. A rather unpleasant character at first glance, who actually saved the lives of many shipwrecked sailors.
After the collision with the iceberg, the Countess of Rothes boarded the eighth lifeboat and attempted to save as many people as possible. Noël Leslie was discovered by seaman Thomas William Jones and put at the helm before boat number eight was taken over by the RMS Carpathia. On this boat, the Countess of Rothes then became the support of the surviving families by caring for the women and children. Years after the tragedy, number eight of his lifeboat was given to him as a tribute.
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