Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | August 5, 2025
There have been countless rumors, confirmed and not, about actors who were allegedly up for the lead roles in Titanic. Kate Winslet reportedly had to fight for the role over other contenders like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Connelly, and Uma Thurman, although reportedly Christina Applegate, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Claire Danes turned down that role for various reasons.
The list of people in contention for the role of Jack Dawson is even longer, and included Chris O’Donnell, Billy Crudup, Tom Cruise, Jared Leto, Johnny Depp, Paul Rudd, Christian Bale, and Ashton Kutcher.
Who knows how many of those actors were actually in contention, but there is definitely one who was: Matthew McConaughey. In fact, he reportedly left the audition thinking he had landed the role. A quick excerpt from Jon Landau’s posthumous memoir, The Bigger Picture — via Matt Belloni’s Puck newsletter — seems to answer why he was not ultimately cast.
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. Kate was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm.
Matthew did the scene with the drawl. “That’s great,” said Jim [Cameron]. “Now let’s try it a different way.”
Matthew said, “No. That was pretty good. Thanks.”
Let’s just say, that was it for McConaughey.
Can you imagine being an overly confident 25-or-26-year-old Matthew McConaughey telling James Cameron, “Nah. I’m good,” when asked to adjust during an audition? I don’t blame Cameron for passing, and ultimately, the world was grateful because that Southern drawl was far more well-suited to A Time to Kill.
Source: Puck
