James Cameron wrote and directed the 1997 film Titanic. It was not just a romantic and tragic story, but also one of the most successful movies in cinema history, earning over 2.2 billion dollars worldwide. The film is based on the real sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
Titanic combined real events and fiction beautifully. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet played the unforgettable roles of Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater. But an interesting fact is that Leonardo was not the first choice for the role.
The first actor selected for the role of Jack was Matthew McConaughey. But director James Cameron did not like his Southern American accent. In the late producer Jon Landau’s upcoming book The Bigger Picture, it is revealed that when Cameron asked McConaughey to change his accent, he refused and said no this is fine thank you.
Landau wrote that this was the end of it and McConaughey’s journey with the film stopped there. McConaughey later said on Rob Lowe’s podcast that he had high hopes for this role.
He shared that he did a reading with Kate Winslet and it was not just a normal audition but a screen test with proper filming. Everything seemed to be going well. Everyone hugged and said great job. He felt sure he would get the role. But in the end it did not happen.