How Matthew McConaughey's blunt response made him lose 'Titanic' role

Titanic producer, Jon Landau, has recently revealed the only reason Matthew McConaughey was not cast as Jack Dawson in the romance disaster film.

In Landau’s memoir, The Bigger Picture: My Blockbuster Life & Lessons Learned Along the Way, he candidly discussed McConaughey's audition for the role.

In a teaser of the memoir which was obtained by Matthew Belloni's What I'm Hearing, the producer revealed that Kate Winslet who played Rose in the movie “was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm."

During the initial screening test, the actor was delivering the dialogue with drawl which didn’t resonate with the director, James Cameron, who told the actor, “That's great, now let's try it a different way.”

“No. That was pretty good. Thanks,” the Interstellar actor reportedly declined the request of the director.

Revealing the first priority for the role, Landau concluded, “Let's just say, that was it for McConaughey,” and the Jack’s role ultimately went to Leo Di Capri which skyrocketed his career.

For those unversed, the memoir is being published posthumously, as Jon Landau passed away on July 5, 2024.

In 2021, McConaughey talked about his audition for Titanic on Literally! with Rob Lowe podcast.

"I asked [director James] Cameron about this, because the gossip over the years that I heard and would see written about me was that I had the role in Titanic and turned it down," he said.

"Not factual. I did not get offered that role. For a while, I was saying, 'I gotta find that agent. They're in trouble. I did not ever get the offer," the Hollywood actor added before signing off chat.