According to producer Jon Landau, the sole reason Matthew McConaughey was not cast as Jack Dawson in the blockbuster romance-disaster film “Titanic” has been revealed. In a posthumously published memoir, The Bigger Picture: My Blockbuster Life & Lessons Learned Along the Way, Landau offers a candid account of McConaughey’s audition.
A teaser from the memoir, obtained by Matthew Belloni’s What I’m Hearing, discloses that Kate Winslet, who played Rose, was “taken with Matthew, his presence and charm.” During the initial screen test, however, the actor delivered his lines with a distinct drawl that didn’t sit well with director James Cameron. Cameron reportedly told McConaughey, “That’s great, now let’s try it a different way.” In response, the Interstellar actor allegedly declined the request, saying, “No. That was pretty good. Thanks.”
Landau concludes that “that was it for McConaughey,” and the role of Jack ultimately went to Leonardo DiCaprio, which catapulted his career to stardom. Jon Landau passed away on July 5, 2024. In 2021, McConaughey himself addressed the rumors about the role on the Literally! with Rob Lowe podcast, stating, “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. 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.”
