Richard Linklater, director of the cult classic 'Dazed and Confused', has revealed that Matthew McConaughey almost lost his breakout role in the film. Speaking about the making of the 1993 movie, Linklater explained that he expanded McConaughey's part after another actor failed to fit in with the cast.
Linklater said: 'There was one actor, Shawn Andrews, who wasn't exactly rocking and rolling with the rest of the cast. So I switched things around to expand Matthew McConaughey's role instead.' McConaughey, who played the character David Wooderson, went on to become a major Hollywood star.
The director also recalled the difficult shoot, which almost saw the film shelved by Universal Studios. 'I still have PTSD when I think of how difficult the shoot was,' Linklater said. 'About a month before we started filming, Tom Pollock, the head of Universal, watched my previous movie Slacker, at which point he realised who he was doing business with and he thought, “Oh no, it’s going to be one of those arty, jerk-offski movies.”'
Despite the studio's concerns, Linklater resisted pressure to change the film, including requests to add modern music or reshoot scenes. 'I didn’t take any of their dumb ideas,' he said. The film eventually made $8m on a $6.9m budget, though Linklater waived most of his rights to pay for the soundtrack.
Linklater described 'Dazed and Confused' as an anti-nostalgic movie that aimed to capture the reality of teenage life. 'I wanted to do a realistic teen movie – most of them had too much drama and plot but teenage life is more like you’re looking for the party, looking for something cool, the endless pursuit of something you never find,' he said.
