Matthew McConaughey's audition tape for "Dazed and Confused" has been
released by The Criterion Collection to promote its reissue of the classic 1993 film, and it's easy to see why he won the role.
"He did his audition and he kind of, like, fell into this character," director Richard Linklater
told Straight.com in 2012 of McConaughey's casting as stoner David Wooderson. "His eyes turned into little quarter slots, he's like, 'Hey, man, you got a joint?' And I was, like, 'Holy sh**!' He became that guy. Holy moley."
In the clip, McConaughey is sporting a "Headbanger's Ball" T-shirt, and delivers his iconic line from the movie: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age."
At the time, the man who would go on to win an Oscar for his starring role in "Dallas Buyers Club" is only 23 years old. Beside him in the clip is Wiley Wiggins, aka freshman Mitch Kramer, who would go on to star in Linklater's surreal animated drama "Waking Life."
Initially, Linklater was skeptical McConaughey could pull off Wooderson.
"You know, when I first met Matthew, he came in and he’s, like, this really good-looking, clean-cut guy, and that threw me off, cause I never saw Wooderson like that. I was, like, ‘No, you’re not right for this part.’ I’m thinking this after just meeting him, and he looked at me, and he goes, ‘Hey, I’m not this guy, but I know this guy. I know this guy.’ He’s from Longview, I’m from Huntsville, these are East Texas towns," he explained.
"In every town, I’ve had people all over the world tell me, like, ‘Oh, in my town that guy’s name was . . .'"
These days, McConaughey and Linklater are busy generating award buzz with their most recent projects, HBO's "True Detective" and "Boyhood," respectively.
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