'Titanic' trivia: Kate Winslet's door scene inspired by real survivor Fang Lang, grandson reveals

The grandson of Titanic survivor Fang Lang has revealed that his grandfather's real-life survival story inspired the iconic floating door scene in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster 'Titanic', according to E! News.

Steven Fong shared that his grandfather, Fang Lang, survived the 1912 Titanic disaster by clinging to a floating door after the ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean, a moment that later inspired the emotional climax featuring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the Oscar-winning film.


Recalling his grandfather's survival story, Fong said, "With my grandfather's story, he actually went down with the ship. To everyone's amazement, he found his way onto a door," as per the outlet.

The scene bears resemblance to the famous ending in 'Titanic' where Rose, played by Kate Winslet, floats on a wooden panel while Jack, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, sacrifices himself in the freezing Atlantic waters.

Fong revealed that filmmaker James Cameron had acknowledged Fang Lang's influence on the scene.

"James Cameron does reveal that my grandfather was the inspiration for the Jack and Rose end scene," he said.

Calling the connection deeply emotional, Fong added, "It's such a surreal feeling being part of this legacy, this big story that everybody knows about. We're just so humbled by the opportunity to kind of add that to the story."

According to Fong, his grandfather never spoke much about surviving the Titanic tragedy or about being one of the six immigrants who escaped the shipwreck. Their story was later explored in the 2020 documentary 'The Six'.

Fang Lang died in 1986, according to E! News

Meanwhile, Cameron had earlier spoken about the emotional core of 'Titanic' and the difficult moral choices faced by survivors during the tragedy.

Speaking to E! News in 2012, Cameron said, "'Titanic' says, 'What would you do if you had an hour or two to live? Would you sacrifice yourself? Would you be that hero? Would you be that guy like Jack or some of those men that put the women and children onto the lifeboats?'"

Released in 1997, 'Titanic' became one of the most successful films in cinematic history and won 11 Academy Awards.