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USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Why Matthew McConaughey missed out on the lead role in 'Titanic'
Matthew McConaughey was almost the king of the world. An upcoming book by late "Titanic" producer Jon Landau has reportedly revealed why the "True Detective" star, 55, lost the lead role in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster to Leonardo DiCaprio. In his newsletter "What I'm Hearing," Puck's Matthew Belloni published an excerpt from Landau's book "The Bigger Picture," which reveals details about McConaughey's screen test for the role of Jack in "Titanic." "We brought him in to do a scene with Kate (Winslet)," the book says, according to Puck. "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 drawl. 'That's great,' said Jim (Cameron). 'Now let's try it a different way.' Matthew said, 'No. That was pretty good. Thanks.' Let's just say, that was it for McConaughey." USA TODAY has reached out to Disney, owner of the book's imprint, Hyperion Avenue. McConaughey has previously discussed being up for the role of Jack in "Titanic" in numerous interviews. During a 2019 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live," he claimed his audition "went really well," so much so that he thought he landed the part. "(It went) well enough where when I left, I was being glad-handed and slapped on the back like, 'This is what we're looking for. You got it,'" he said. "Well enough where you get outside, you call your agent, and you go, 'Oh, I nailed it. This is happening.'" McConaughey has also denied a rumor that he did get the role, but turned it down. Speaking on Rob Lowe's "Literally!" podcast, he clarified, "I did not get offered that role. For a while there, I was thinking, 'I've got to find that agent. They're in trouble!' Well, I didn't ever get the offer." Though DiCaprio wound up playing Jack, he almost lost out on the part, too. In a 2022 video interview with GQ, Cameron revealed DiCaprio nearly wasn't cast because he didn't want to do a screen test with Winslet. "He said, 'Oh, I don't read,'" Cameron recalled. "I shook his hand and I said, 'Well, thanks for coming by.' He said, 'Wait, wait, wait, you mean if I don't read, I don't get the part, just like that?' And I said, 'Oh, yeah, come on. ... You're going to read or you're not going to get the part." According to Cameron, DiCaprio reluctantly agreed to do the reading with Winslet but had a "negative" attitude about it – "right up until I said action, and then he turned into Jack."
Fox News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Matthew McConaughey lost out on 'Titanic' lead role after refusing director's request: book
Print Close By Lori Bashian Published August 07, 2025 Matthew McConaughey almost starred in one of the biggest movies of the '90s. In an excerpt of "Titanic" producer Jon Landau's memoir, "The Bigger Picture," obtained by Matthew Belloni's What I'm Hearing newsletter, the late producer detailed McConaughey's audition for the role of Jack Dawson in the Academy Award-winning movie. "We brought him in to do a scene with Kate [Winslet]. You want to check for chemistry — not just how people look on film, but how they interact," Landau wrote. "Kate was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm. Matthew did the scene with the drawl." According to the book, after McConaughey completed the scene in his signature Texas accent, director James Cameron told the actor, "That's great, now let's try it a different way," to which the actor allegedly responded, "No. That was pretty good. Thanks." 'YELLOWSTONE' STAR NEAL MCDONOUGH SAYS HOLLYWOOD BLACKBALLED HIM DUE TO HIS NO-KISSING RULE "Let's just say, that was it for McConaughey," Landau recalled in the book. The role famously went to Leonardo DiCaprio, who had made a name for himself in films such as "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Romeo + Juliet" beforehand. However, his role as Jack Dawson led him to become an international star and teen heartthrob. McConaughey has spoken about his audition process for the film in the past, telling Rob Lowe during a 2021 appearance on his podcast, "Literally! With Rob Lowe," that after his audition, he "really thought it was going to happen." LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS "So I went and read with Kate Winslet, and it was not one of the auditions — they filmed it so it was like into screen test time," he said. "After we left, you know, it was one of those ones where they, like, followed me, and when we got outside, they were like, 'That went great.' I mean, kind of, like, hugs. I really thought it was going to happen. It did not." Winslet, who went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Rose Dewitt Bukater, recalled auditioning with McConaughey while on "The Late Show" in 2017, calling his audition "completely fantastic," but admitted the movie would have been different if he was cast, adding "It just wouldn't have been the whole 'Jack and Rose, Kate and Leo' thing." While he did miss out on starring in the epic love story, McConaughey's career did not suffer. He went on to win an Academy Award for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club" and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on season one of "True Detective." While on Lowe's podcast, McConaughey also shut down the longstanding rumor that he was offered the role of Jack and turned it down, saying he even asked the film's director, James Cameron, to confirm he was never offered the part. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER "Not factual. I did not get offered that role," he said. "For a while, I was saying, 'I gotta find that agent. They're in trouble…'I did not ever get the offer." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Print Close URL
Fox News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Matthew McConaughey lost out on 'Titanic' lead role after refusing director's request
Matthew McConaughey almost starred in one of the biggest movies of the '90s. In an excerpt of "Titanic" producer Jon Landau's memoir, "The Bigger Picture," obtained by Matthew Belloni's What I'm Hearing newsletter, the late producer detailed McConaughey's audition for the role of Jack Dawson in the Academy Award-winning movie. "We brought him in to do a scene with Kate [Winslet]. You want to check for chemistry — not just how people look on film, but how they interact," Landau wrote. "Kate was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm. Matthew did the scene with the drawl." According to the book, after McConaughey completed the scene in his signature Texas accent, director James Cameron told the actor, "That's great, now let's try it a different way," to which the actor allegedly responded, "No. That was pretty good. Thanks." "Let's just say, that was it for McConaughey," Landau recalled in the book. The role famously went to Leonardo DiCaprio, who had made a name for himself in films such as "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Romeo + Juliet" beforehand. However, his role as Jack Dawson led him to become an international star and teen heartthrob. McConaughey has spoken about his audition process for the film in the past, telling Rob Lowe during a 2021 appearance on his podcast, "Literally! With Rob Lowe," that after his audition, he "really thought it was going to happen." "So I went and read with Kate Winslet, and it was not one of the auditions — they filmed it so it was like into screen test time," he said. "After we left, you know, it was one of those ones where they, like, followed me, and when we got outside, they were like, 'That went great.' I mean, kind of, like, hugs. I really thought it was going to happen. It did not." Winslet, who went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Rose Dewitt Bukater, recalled auditioning with McConaughey while on "The Late Show" in 2017, calling his audition "completely fantastic," but admitted the movie would have been different if he was cast, adding "It just wouldn't have been the whole 'Jack and Rose, Kate and Leo' thing." While he did miss out on starring in the epic love story, McConaughey's career did not suffer. He went on to win an Academy Award for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club" and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on season one of "True Detective." While on Lowe's podcast, McConaughey also shut down the longstanding rumor that he was offered the role of Jack and turned it down, saying he even asked the film's director, James Cameron, to confirm he was never offered the part. "Not factual. I did not get offered that role," he said. "For a while, I was saying, 'I gotta find that agent. They're in trouble…'I did not ever get the offer."
Buzz Feed
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Matthew McConaughey Lost Titanic Role Over His Accent
It's wild to think that anyone other than Leonardo DiCaprio was ever considered to play Jack Dawson in Titanic. But, as it turns out, there were a ton of famous young men in the running. While Kate Winslet bagged the part of Rose pretty early on, James Cameron has said that finding the perfect Jack for his 1997 blockbuster was more of a struggle. On their casting search, the director met with stars like Billy Crudup, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Ethan Hawke, and Matthew McConaughey, all of whom went on to have successful careers despite missing out. Some of the men on that list have since expressed relief that they didn't get cast in the movie, which, as we now know, exposed Leo and Kate to a lot of 'unpleasant' scrutiny along with the success. However, Mr. McConaughey seemed to have mixed feelings about the whole thing. During a 2021 interview with Rob Lowe, Matthew said that he assumed his Titanic audition with Kate went well — so well, in fact, he thought he'd secured the part. 'After we left, you know, it was one of those ones where they followed me, and when we got outside, they were like, 'That went great.' I mean, kind of, like, hugs,' he recalled. 'I really thought it was going to happen. It did not.' In the same interview, he also denied speculation that he was ever offered the part. And while that may have been Matthew's recollection of events, a new memoir suggests that the actor actually blew the audition after refusing to adjust his performance to the director's notes. For context, Jon Landau was James Cameron's producing partner for decades and sadly died last year. Now, in an excerpt from his upcoming posthumous memoir, The Bigger Picture, which was featured in Matt Belloni's What I'm Hearing newsletter on Aug. 5, the producer revealed where Matthew's Titanic audition went wrong. 'We brought him in to do a scene with Kate. 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,' Landau recalled, specifying that 'Matthew did the scene with the drawl.' For context, the fictional character of Jack is meant to be from Wisconsin in the script. So, at this point in the audition, the director requested that Matthew try the scene in 'a different way.' However, the Texas native was not interested in changing his accent, apparently replying: 'No. That was pretty good. Thanks.' Landau recalled that this was the moment that Matthew's chances of landing the part plummeted. 'Let's just say, that was it for McConaughey,' he summarized. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Cameron and Landau stumbled upon Leo, who, for what it's worth, didn't have the smoothest audition either. But you can read more about that here… Anyway, do you think they made the right decision? I weirdly think Matthew would've been well cast as Jack, and I have to wonder how he feels about this new memoir revelation. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Reason Matthew McConaughey lost iconic Titanic role to Leonardo DiCaprio revealed
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 missed out on the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic after refusing to follow instructions during his screen test with director James Cameron. The 55 year old star, famous for his distinctive Texan accent and laid-back charisma, reportedly auditioned alongside Kate Winslet during the early casting process for the 1997 epic. However, the role eventually went to Leonardo DiCaprio. The revelation about his failed audition comes from producer Jon Landau's posthumous memoir, The Bigger Picture, which was featured in journalist Matthew Belloni's newsletter What I'm Hearing. Jon is said to have wrote: "We brought (Matthew) in to do a scene with Kate (Winslet, for Titanic.) 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's account, following Matthew's first performance, director James, now 70, requested he repeat the scene without his Southern accent. The actor reportedly refused. "That was pretty good. Thanks," Matthew apparently responded, wrapping up the audition without attempting a second reading. Jack Dawson, the role that ultimately went to Leonardo DiCaprio, was conceived as a working-class orphan from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, making his way back to America on the doomed RMS Titanic. Whilst Matthew was turned down for the part, Leonardo, now 50, also reportedly created tension during his own audition process. In a candid chat with GQ in 2022, James reminisced about the time he asked Leonardo to read lines during a test shoot with Winslet. The director recounted how the actor initially brushed off the request, saying: "Oh, I don't read." James stood his ground, informing him that without reading, the role wouldn't be his. Leonardo acquiesced and went on to impress with a stellar audition. "Kate just lit up ... dark clouds had opened up and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack," James recalled, convinced then that Leonardo was perfect for the part. Titanic, which hit cinemas in December 1997, soared to become one of the most successful films ever, both commercially and critically. Helmed by James and featuring Leonardo and Kate as the leads, the movie spins the tale of Jack and Rose – star-crossed lovers from disparate social strata aboard the ill-fated vessel, which tragically sank on April 14, 1912. With a hefty production budget of around $200 million, Titanic raked in over $2.2 billion worldwide. At its release, it clinched the title of the highest-grossing film ever, a record it held until James' own Avatar surpassed it in 2009. The epic romance swept the Oscars with 14 nominations and bagged 11 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Song, and Best Cinematography. It also launched Leonardo and Kate, who were just 22 and 21 at the time, into global superstardom. Although he missed out on this particular role, Matthew's career didn't suffer, as he later achieved Hollywood acclaim with standout performances in Dallas Buyers Club, Interstellar and True Detective, securing an Oscar in 2014.
