Matthew McConaughey ‘lost role of Jack Dawson in Titanic after refusing to take direction during his audition’
According to a new Hollywood memoir, Matthew McConaughey is said to have lost the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic after refusing to take direction during his audition with director James Cameron.
Matthew McConaughey is said to have lost the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic after refusing to take direction during his audition with director James Cameron.
The 55-year-old actor, known for his Texan drawl and easy charm, auditioned opposite Kate Winslet during early casting sessions for the 1997 blockbuster, and the claim he botched his try-out for the hit movie comes from producer Jon Landau’s posthumous memoir, The Bigger Picture, which was excerpted in journalist Matthew Belloni’s newsletter What I’m Hearing.
Jon is said to have written: “We brought (Matthew) in to do a scene with Kat (Winslet, for Totanic.)
“You want to check for chemistry, not just how people look on film but how they interact. Kate was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm. Matthew did the scene with the (Southern) drawl.”
According to Jon, after Matthew’s initial reading, filmmaker James, now 70, asked him to perform the scene again without the Southern accent.
The actor is said to have declined.
“That was pretty good. Thanks,” Matthew apparently said, ending the audition without doing a second take.
Jack Dawson, the character eventually portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, was written as a working-class orphan from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, travelling back to America aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic.
While Matthew was rejected for the role, Leonardo, now 50, also initially caused friction during the audition process.
In a 2022 interview with GQ, James recalled asking Leonardo to read lines in a test shoot alongside Winslet.
The actor reportedly told him: “Oh, I don’t read.”
James replied that if he didn’t read, he wouldn’t get the part.
Leonardo then agreed and delivered a strong performance.
“Kate just lit up … dark clouds had opened up and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack,” James said – adding: “I’m like, ‘Alright, he’s the guy.’”
Titanic, released in December 1997, became one of the most commercially and critically successful films of all time.
Directed by James and starring Leonardo and Kate, the film tells the story of the actors’ characters Jack and Rose – two young lovers from different social backgrounds who meet aboard the doomed ship.
The film had a production budget of around $200 million and earned more than $2.2 billion globally.
It became the highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release, holding that title until James’ Avatar overtook it in 2009.
Titanic received 14 Academy Award nominations and won 11, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Song and Best Cinematography.
It also catapulted both Leonardo and Kate – then aged 22 and 21 respectively – to international stardom.
Despite narrowly missing the opportunity, Matthew went on to enjoy major success in Hollywood with roles in Dallas Buyers Club, Interstellar, and True Detective, earning an Academy Award in 2014.
