Titanic child star shares heartbreaking scene that was scrapped from film after being 'heavily rejected by moms'

A Titanic child actor revealed that one of her scenes got left on the cutting room floor after it received a horrified reception from moms in the test audience.

The film directed by James Cameron truly was a cultural zeitgeist of the late 90s - where would we be culturally without Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' and the film's numerous famous lines?

Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Titanic tells the unexpected love story between wealthy Rose DeWitt Bukater and third class passenger, Jack Dawson, aboard the doomed ship.

It certainly has a dedicated fan base too, who often rewatch the 1997 classic to experience the magic - and also catch a few blunders along the way.

And while it made huge stars of Winslet and DiCaprio, anyone who had some semblance of a role in the film also got some serious street cred, including Alex Owens-Sarno, who played the young third-class passenger Cora.

Alex Owens-Sarno in Titanic (20th Century Fox)

Anyone who has seen Titanic will more than likely remember the little girl as she is shown to be smitten with Jack, sitting with him as he draws or gets a bit jealous of Rose taking his attention at the dance in the third-class dining room - as Jack reminds her she's 'still his best girl'.

However, the last time we see her and her family is when the ship sinks and they are trapped in the third class quarters, as water slowly fills around them, it's easy to imagine that they didn't survive the sinking.

According to Owens-Sarno, there was supposed to be an extended part of that scene, which showed her drowning.

Speaking on the 'After We Wrap' podcast, the actor said: "For me, the thing that lit me up about the Titanic experience in the realm of acting was actually my drowning scene. It was heavily rejected by moms."

But Cameron was keen to keep the scene in, which led to Owens-Sarno performing her own stunt.

She continued: "It’s a lot. When they were showing [‘Titanic’ to] test audiences, [the audiences] were like, ‘Not her. We will not watch her die."

Even though it was taken out of the final product, she said that it's on YouTube somewhere, for anyone curious.

The role was Owens-Sarno's first in a film, and she quick became recognised in public after the film's release.

"I started being approached on the street, like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you Cora?’” she said. "People see me and know me and recognize who I am."

But it wasn't only Owens-Sarno who was proud to be in the movie, as she said her grandmother would often boast about her granddaughter's part, telling anyone: "This is my baby girl, and she was in ‘Titanic."