Matthew McConaughey was nearly cast as Jack Dawson in the 1997 blockbuster ‘Titanic’, but his audition with director James Cameron reportedly ended badly.
Details about the failed audition have emerged from the posthumous book The Bigger Picture by the film’s producer Jon Landau, as reported in journalist Matthew Belloni’s newsletter What I’m Hearing. The revelation sheds new light on how one of cinema’s most iconic roles almost went to the Texas-born actor instead of Leonardo DiCaprio.
According to Landau’s memoir, McConaughey was brought in to do a scene with Kate Winslet to test their chemistry. The producer wrote that they wanted to check not just how people look on film but how they interact with each other. Winslet was reportedly taken with McConaughey’s presence and charm during the audition. The actor, now 55, performed the scene using his natural Southern drawl, which initially seemed to go well.
According to Page Six, the audition took a turn when Cameron, now 70, asked McConaughey to try the scene differently without the Southern accent. The character of Jack Dawson was supposed to be an orphan man from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, trying to make his way back to the United States via the doomed ocean liner after traveling abroad. Essentially, Matthew McConaughey would have been Jack in’Titanic’ if he hadn’t point-blank refused James Cameron’s simple request. When Cameron told him to try it a different way after his initial reading, Landau claims McConaughey responded with “No. That was pretty good. Thanks,” which ultimately cost him the part.
Leonardo DiCaprio also created challenges during his own Titanic audition process
While Leonardo DiCaprio eventually won the role of Jack Dawson opposite Kate Winslet’s Rose DeWitt Bukater, though Winslet would later face years of body shaming following the film’s release, his path to landing the part was not without its own complications. In a 2022 interview with GQ, Cameron revealed that DiCaprio, now 50, initially refused to read the script during an impromptu test shoot. When asked to read lines, DiCaprio reportedly told the director, “Oh, I don’t read.”
James Cameron asked Matthew McConaughey to alter his Texas accent during the *Titanic* screen test, but McConaughey refused, saying, "No. That was pretty good. Thanks," leading to his loss of the Jack Dawson role.
— You (@GeoffUckyouself) August 6, 2025
Cameron made it clear to DiCaprio that if he did not read the script, he would not get the part. Faced with this ultimatum, the What’s Eating Gilbert Grape star reluctantly agreed to run through the lines. His eventual performance during the audition impressed everyone in the room and secured him the role that would become one of the most memorable in his career.
Cameron described the moment DiCaprio finally read for the part, saying that Kate just lit up, and it was as if dark clouds had opened up and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack. The director knew immediately that DiCaprio was the right choice for the role. The film went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time and launched both DiCaprio, who was just 22 at the time, and Winslet into superstardom.. Representatives for both McConaughey and Cameron were contacted for comment, but did not immediately respond.
