The simple refusal that cost Matthew McConaughey the lead role of Jack Dawson in Titanic

When it comes to iconic roles there are some big ones, and there's one that got away from Matthew McConaughey. 

Turns out the 55-year-old was in the running to be cast as Jack Dawson in Titanic, but one moment from his audition cost him the gig. 

An excerpt from the film's producer Jon Landau's posthumous book, The Bigger Picture, which was included in journalist Matthew Belloni's newsletter, What I'm Hearing, reveals what allegedly went down. 

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"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 writes in his memoir, per the newsletter.

"Kate was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm. Matthew did the scene with the drawl."

The Southern accent was one thing, but director James Cameron, now 70, reportedly suggested that they "try it a different way". 

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Jack, the main character in Titanic, was meant to be an orphaned man from Wisconsin, trying to make his way back to the US. 

Well, the suggestion from Cameron didn't go down well. 

Landau claimed that McConaughey flat-out told Cameron, "No. That was pretty good. Thanks," in response to the accent change.

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The role ultimately went to Leonardo DiCaprio – but even he didn't impress Cameron during his first audition.

In 2022 Cameron spoke about casting for Jack and recalled what happened with DiCaprio's impromptu test in an interview with GQ

The Oscar-winning filmmaker asked DiCaprio to read the script and he replied, "Oh, I don't read."

Cameron wasn't having it, and told him that if he didn't read, he wouldn't get the part.

Reluctantly, DiCaprio agreed to run through lines and it worked out well for him, smashing the audition and landing the role.

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