The Ship of DreamsOn April 10, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic began her maiden voyage from Southampton in Hampshire, England, to New York City. Five nights later, she collided with an iceberg and sank into the Atlantic, taking more than 1,500 passengers with her.
Updated October 14, 2020 32.6K votes 3.4K voters 93.5K views
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Vote up the actors who most resemble their real-life counterparts.
James Cameron's Titanic film has been praised for bringing one of the most harrowing events to life on the big screen. Sure, the based-on-real-events film is focused on some fictionalized characters - the love triangle of Rose, Jack, and Cal were not a part of the luxury cruise ship's maiden voyage - but there are so many characters modeled after actual passengers on board the Titanic.
Nearly all of the rest of the characters in the movie were based on real people, in fact. Again, while their stories may be slightly exaggerated, it's necessary to look back on them as people who experienced this tragedy first-hand. And for the most part, the casting truly hit the nail on the head with a lot of those who took up these roles. It's as if some of these passengers were time travelers, even.
Molly Brown was a first class passenger on board the Titanic. She helped load people into the lifeboats before getting on one herself and making it safely to the Carpathia for rescue.
Ida and Isidor Straus sailed on board the Titanic, and the night of the sinking were among those terrified for their lives. However, when Ida was put on a lifeboat, and her husband refused a seat, she got off and reportedly stated, "Where you go, I go." They then remained on the deck until they perished in the cold water.
Charles Lightoller was Second Officer in the crew of the Titanic on its maiden voyage. He upheld the strict rule of women and children first, but took that to mean no men need board the lifeboats. He found himself atop an overturned lifeboat once in the water, and he likely saved the many souls with him by keeping the small boat afloat until the Carpathia arrived.
Wallace Hartley was a violinist in the Titanic's band. After the ship crashed into the iceberg, he led the band in continuing to play for the victims, assumed to try and keep everyone as calm as possible in the midst of chaos. He went down with the ship that fateful night.
J. Bruce Ismay was a chairman of the company that constructed the Titanic, and an accomplished businessman. He controversially got into one of the few lifeboats the night of the sinking and survived.
