Incredible behind the scenes photos of the filming of the Titanic have surfaced 27 years later.

The never-before-seen candid snaps were taken by an unknown member of the cast of James Cameron‘s blockbuster movie while filming on location in Mexico in 1996.

The amateur images include a fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet relaxing during some down time from their famous characters Jack and Rose.

Winslet, who was then aged just 21, is seen wearing the white life jacket that her character donned before plunging into the freezing Atlantic at the end of the film.

The film, which was released to great acclaim in late 1997, told the story of the April 1912 sinking of the Titanic.

The newly-built passenger liner had departed from Southampton and was bound for New York but sank after hitting an iceberg, leading to the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

Incredible behind the scenes photos of the filming of the Titanic have surfaced 27 years later. The amateur images include a fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (above) relaxing during some down time from their famous characters Jack and Rose

DiCaprio is seen dressed as his character Jack Dawson, a poor young artist who had won a third-class ticket in a poker game for the Titanic’s voyage to the US

Another picture shows the then 22-year-old DiCaprio talking to Cameron while wearing a pair of modern wrap-around sunglasses at odds with his Edwardian-era outfit.

Cameron is also seen directing DiCaprio and co-star Danny Nucci – who played his character’s friend Fabrizio – for the scene where the pair run along the gangway to board the doomed liner.

Billy Zane, who portrayed villainous Cal Hockley, is seen resting against a vintage motorcar talking to Winslet.

Kathy Bates, who played the larger-than-life Molly Brown, is seen posing for the camera with a female cast member.

The photos were taken in the Mexican border town of Rosarito, where a full-scale version of the Titanic had been constructed for the filming.

The embarkation scenes at the beginning of the movie were shot there.

Several snaps show Winslet’s character impeccably dressed in a white outfit and large hat with a camera just a few feet away.

A fresh-faced Di Caprio is seen on the set of the Titanic in Rosarito, Mexico, during filming

DiCaprio walks to the set of the Titanic with co-star Danny Nucci – who played his character’s friend Fabrizio

Old and new: DiCaprio is seen wearing a pair of modern sunglasses while dressed in his character’s Edwardian-era clothes

Danny Nucci is seen on the gang plank in front of the giant reproduction of the Titanic

There are also a pictures showing the stern of the liner not seen by the cameras being propped up by scaffolding.

Other images show some of the film extras sleeping on set during a break and others putting on costumes in a giant dressing room.

In all there are 44 photos in the archive.

They were acquired several years ago by a British collector and are now coming up for sale at Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes, Wiltshire.

They have a pre-sale estimate of £1,500.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: ‘They are fabulous photos. They provide a unique, behind the scenes view of the production of the biggest grossing movie of the 20th century.

Francis Fisher is seen in character as Ruth Dewitt Bukater, the mother of Rose

Winslet is seen as Rose, walking behind Billy Zane’s character Cal Hockley

Winslet in character as Rose, in a scene from the early part of the film, where passengers were depicted boarding the Titanic

The photos were taken in the Mexican border town of Rosarito, where a full-scale version of the Titanic had been constructed for the filming

They were acquired several years ago by a British collector and are now coming up for sale at Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes, Wiltshire

‘What is great about these photos is that they were clearly taken by a member of the crew using their own camera. They aren’t professional, PR shots, they are candid, amateur snaps.

‘The cast member appears to have taken any opportunity to grab some candid shots of some of the stars of the film.

‘A very youthful Leonardo DiCaprio appears in quite a few pictures. He had already starred in Romeo and Juliet but it was Titanic that launched him and made him an A-lister.

‘It is uncanny how similar the photo of the model of the Titanic with scaffolding underneath looks like the actual liner in the shipyard in Belfast in 1911.’

The photos are coming up for sale on November 11.

The Titanic is seen leaving Southampton on its doomed maiden voyage. It sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg

DISASTER IN THE ATLANTIC: HOW MORE THAN 1,500 LOST THEIR LIVES WHEN THE TITANIC SANK

The RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

More than 1,500 people died when the ship, which was carrying 2,224 passengers and crew, sank under the command of Captain Edward Smith.

Some of the wealthiest people in the world were on board, including property tycoon John Jacob Astor IV, great grandson of John Jacob Astor, founder of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Constructed by Belfast-based shipbuilders Harland and Wolff between 1909 and 1912, the RMS Titanic was the largest ship of her time

Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim, heir to his family’s mining business, also perished, along with Isidor Straus, the German-born co-owner of Macy’s department store.

The ship was the largest afloat at the time and was designed in such a way that it was meant to be ‘unsinkable’.

It had an on-board gym, libraries, swimming pool and several restaurants and luxury first-class cabins.

There were not enough lifeboats on board for all the passengers due to out-of-date maritime safety regulations.

After leaving Southampton on April 10, 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland before heading to New York.

On April 14, 1912, four days into the crossing, she hit an iceberg at 11:40pm local time.

James Moody was on night watch when the collision happened and took the call from the watchman, asking him: ‘What do you see?’ The man responded: ‘Iceberg, dead ahead.’

By 2.20am, with hundreds of people still on board, the ship plunged beneath the waves, taking many, including Moody, with it.

Despite repeated distress calls being sent out and flares launched from the decks, the first rescue ship, the RMS Carpathia, arrived nearly two hours later, pulling more than 700 people from the water.

It was not until 1985 that the wreck of the ship was discovered in two pieces on the ocean floor.