Matthew McConaughey may have successfully reinvented himself with projects like “True Detective” and an Oscar win for “Dallas Buyers Club” during the so-called “McConaissance” of the past couple of years, but a new video has surfaced to remind us of the classic McConaughey brand.
Richard Linklater‘s 1993 coming-of-age drama “Dazed and Confused” not only gave McConaughey his breakout role, it also provided a template for the kind of persona the actor would embody for years to come.
As can be seen in the newly released video of McConaughey’s audition for the role of David Wooderson, the laid-back swagger was present from the very beginning.
The film also gave McConaughey his now iconic “Alright, alright, alright” line, though he doesn’t say it in the audition tape. He does share a couple of scenes with Wiley Wiggins, who had apparently already been cast as Mitch Kramer in the film, and utters an equally famous line from the film: “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I keep getting older, they stay the same age.”
The video was released to promote the release of “Dazed and Confused” on DVD as part of the Criterion Collection.