Moment Kate Winslet asks if she's died after breaking record for time spent holding breath underwater

On the set of Avatar: The Way of Water, Kate Winslet worryingly asks if she's died straight after filming an epic underwater scene.

The actor remarkably broke Tom Cruise's underwater record and found the whole experience 'just incredible'.

As you'd expect, much of the long-awaited Avatar sequel is set in the ocean and director James Cameron typically wanted to make the underwater scenes look as realistic as possible.

Watch the moment unfold below:

Winslet did 'three weeks of the training every single day' in preparation for her underwater role of playing Ronal, the female leader of the oceanic community.

Winslet told The Graham Norton Show how she learnt how to control the way she distributed oxygen in her body.

"It's a very detailed, quite extraordinary process," she said.

BBC

As shown in the clip above, the actor was alongside her trainer attempting to complete her underwater task.

After popping her head out of the water to get her breath back, the trainer asks Winslet to predict how long she lasted.

"I don't know. It could have been 6:10. It could have been 7:10," Winslet said.

As the trainer revealed the record-breaking score of '7:15', the actor jumped up with joy and was absolutely delighted with the news.

She smashed Tom Cruise's record of six minutes, which he achieved while filming Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Speaking to Total Film, Winslet explained: "I have the video of me surfacing saying, 'Am I dead, have I died?' And then going, 'What was [my time]?'

"Straight away I wanted to know my time. And I couldn’t believe it...The next thing I say is, 'We need to radio set.' I wanted Jim to know right away.

"Well, I didn't have to hold my breath for over seven minutes. It's just that the opportunity to set a record presented itself.

"I wanted to break my own record, which was already six minutes and 14 seconds. And I was like, 'Come on!' So I smashed my own record by a minute."

BBC

The actor worked with ‘elite military divers so that she could hold her breath, after a big gulp of supplemental oxygen, for more than six minutes’.

"I had some concerns… but that’s what the training was for. And I really wanted to do it. I didn’t want anyone to think, ‘Oh, she’s old, she can’t do this,'" she said.

"My hope is that what I receive from the universe is even more outrageous than anything I can think of. I don’t really say to myself, ‘Well, you can’t do this.’ Or, ‘You can’t do that.’ Let me at it! And we’ll see."