Matthew McConaughey’s legendary film career began with a chance encounter and a childhood memory. During the January 7 episode of the podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”, the 56-year-old actor opened up about the origins of his breakout role as David Wooderson in the 1993 classic “Dazed and Confused”.
While McConaughey was a student at the University of Texas, a late-night conversation with casting director Don Phillips at a Hyatt rooftop bar led to an unexpected audition for the Richard Linklater film.
Matthew McConaughey on how memories of his brother inspired his Dazed and Confused character
To find the essence of Wooderson, a man who graduated high school but still hangs out with the younger crowd, McConaughey looked back to a specific moment from when he was 10 years old. He recalled sitting in the back of a wood-paneled station wagon with his mother as they drove through a school campus to pick up his older brother, Pat.
“I can see the ember of this lazy finger cigarette hanging on these two hands. This guy’s leaning against the wall with his left leg, boot heel up against the wall, smoking. And I went, it’s my brother,” McConaughey shared.
In his young eyes, Pat looked “nine feet tall” and “cooler than James Dean.” Although McConaughey noted that this wasn’t necessarily who his brother was in reality, that specific “cool” impression became the foundation for Wooderson.
This inspiration allowed McConaughey to fully inhabit the role, even when Linklater asked him to jump into unscripted scenes on his first day. Despite having almost no professional acting experience beyond a Miller Lite commercial, McConaughey felt confident improvising.
It was during one of these early improvised moments that he delivered the line that would define his career, “Alright, alright, alright.” When asked if he ever grows tired of fans repeating the catchphrase back to him, his answer was simple: “Hell no.”
