What was the experience like, shooting Titanic?
In a word, it was amazing. It was so weird because I was so young at the time and I didn’t really understand what was going on. But everyone was so nice to me, and I just did . You show up on set, and you get your hair and makeup, and then your costume, and then James Cameron directs you, and you’re like, «All right, I’m just going to do that.»
My very first scene that we filmed was one where I’m sitting with Leonardo DiCaprio, and we were drawing in his sketchbook. And he sees Rose and then playing my dad comes up and says, «All right, say good-bye to Uncle Jack,» so he could go off with her. It got cut — it’s in the deleted scenes — but it was three hours and, in between, just hanging out and drawing pictures with Leo.
Were you conscious of his status as a heartthrob on set?
I didn’t ever really notice that; I wasn’t really paying attention, because I was thinking, This is my new best friend Leo, and he’s so cool. In between scenes, we would hang out, and Kate would come up and talk to us too — she was obsessed with my sister’s hair, so she was always playing with it. And Leo would try to chase my sister around and tickle her.
But it was funny because that year, especially after filming, that’s when he was all over the J-14 magazines. People at school would bring the magazines in and I would be like, «Oh, I know him.» You know, like a total little snob. They’d all say, «We know you know him! Shut up!» At one point, I actually invited him to come trick-or-treating with me.
Do you still get recognized as Cora as an adult? Or, at least, did you get recognized before BuzzFeed blew your spot up?
Well, right after Titanic, I got an agent. I was auditioning for movies, but it was a really hard time for me. People were recognizing me on the street all the time; it was really overwhelming and difficult. And people would ask for my autograph, but when you’re 8, 9 years old, it’s just like, «Ugh, who are you, I shouldn’t talk to strangers!» I actually stopped pursuing the professional side of acting — but I’m living in Los Angeles now, doing the L.A. thing.
I’ve had a couple people recognize me in the past few years. I went to a bar with some friends, recently, for example; our server came by, took our drink orders, and when she came back with them, she said, «I have a really weird question for you.» Yes, she asked me if I was in Titanic, and she full-on said to me, «I was going to walk up to you and just say, ‘You’re still my best girl, Cora,’ but I didn’t want to be wrong and then feel like an idiot.» But I really wish she had, because that would have made my entire life.
Perchance to dream. But OK, let’s go back to Titanic. How did you land the role of Cora?
It was my very first . I’m from San Diego, and they were having an open casting call for extras down in Mexico . My mom was just like, «I have to get my kids down there; they’re so cute; this could be such a great opportunity!» She knew I wanted to be an actress; I’ve wanted to be an actress since I was, like, 4 years old. So we drove down there.
At that time, my sister was 3 or 4, a little teeny, tiny thing. We’re , and my mom was talking about the Titanic, explaining the sinking, and my sister started crying! Just bawling. She was so sad that so many people had died. And at that exact moment, Mali Finn, who was the casting director for the film, walked by. Now, there’s a character in the film called «Crying Girl,» which is a little girl that Billy Zane picks up to get into a lifeboat with . Right away, Mali said, «Get that kid in a costume and get her on a boat right now!» So my mom took her, and they went and got her in costume to try out for the part.
In the meantime, Mali asked if I wanted to audition . So I did. I got in line behind, like, 10 little blonde girls — they wanted a blonde girl — and I remember I wanted to go last because I was so nervous. They all went in, and then I went in, and she just had me ad lib a couple lines, dance on her feet with her, and that was it, that was the entire audition. It didn’t work out for my sister, she had cried too much, but a couple of weeks later, my mom had a message on the machine saying I had gotten the part. I remember crying, screaming, running around the house like a little maniac.
Titanic
During the filming of the Titanic, Alexandrea Owens was a wide-eyed youngster with curly brown hair. She landed the role of Cora Cartmell, a child steerage passenger aboard the lavish cruise liner. If you’re wondering how the youngster got the opportunity for all that face time with a twenty-something Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, it’s somewhere between a funny story and a family affair.
Alexandrea Owens Sarno was named after a Flashdance character. Her mother, Kathryn Owens, who’d participated in beauty pageants, thought her two daughters were just too cute to not be seen. Her daughter, Alexandrea, was itching to start her acting career. So, when she heard that Titanic was holding an open casting for extras in, she drove them there. While the three of them waited, Kathryn told her daughters, Alex and Rachel, the real story behind the Titanic.
Horrified, a very young Rachel started to cry…hard. As if on cue, the casting director walked by. She said, “Get that kid in a costume. Get her on a lifeboat right now.” Rachel was up for the role of ‘random child’ who cried when Billy Zane tries to get a spot on a lifeboat, pretending to be a single dad. The tears brought attention to Alex as well. She was told to audition for the role of Cora. The Owens girls all left with extra work that day.
Between late 1996 and early 1997, the Owens family spent a little over a week on the set of James Cameron’s soon-to-be masterpiece. Lucky for Alexandrea many of her scenes were with Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Jack Dawson in the film. on set, he was the perfect buddy. He brought her peanut butter sandwiches from craft see services, doodles pictures, and endlessly made her laugh. To the world, he was a soon-to-be A-lister, but to her, he was Leo, her friend.
All Grown Up
Since her brush with fame (yes, she does get DM’s saying “you’re still my best girl, Cora”), her acting career has mostly been on pause. She got an agent after the movie premiered, but the drive from San Diego to Los Angeles was too much for her family. She decided to end her pursuit when she lost the tole of Inspector Gadget‘s Penny (played by Michelle Trachtenberg) finished high school and attended California State University for writing and chemistry.
Today she is living in LA, pursuing acting and producing. She has acted in a few shorts including Enjoy the View and A Closer Walk with Thee, and Mister Harmac, which is currently in post-production according to IMDB. Outside of acting, she also produced and acted in Con Actors, a 2020 film. You can check her out and keep up with her on Instagram @alexowenssarno!
