There are some actors who are so closely associated with an iconic movie role, that you just can't picture anyone else effectively playing the part. After watching them on the big screen, and seeing the star own the role, you just think "They are the character." Just imagine Han Solo played by anyone other than Harrison Ford (in fact, you don't have to imagine it any more, and believe me: it sucks) or the Terminator without Arnold, or Iron Man without Robert Downey Jr.
But one of the most iconic cinematic duos ever has got to be Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic. Their passionate romance while playing the characters of Jack and Rose in James Cameron's historical epic Titanic melted hearts all around the world, and even more than 20 years later, many people still consider those parts their most career-defining roles. But recently, we learned that Titanic could have been a very different movie. In fact, Matthew McConaughey has revealed that, as a younger actor, he was eager and willing to play Jack, and keenly auditioned for the role.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, McConaughey stated: "I went and auditioned for that. I wanted that. I auditioned with Kate Winslet. Had a good audition. Walked away from there pretty confident that I had it. I didn't get it. I never got offered that." The Dallas Byers Club actor also opened up about his earlier career, in which he was mostly typecast as a rom-com lead, stating: "They were fun. The pay was great. I was looking forward to them. I enjoyed going to work. I was also living on a beach and going out without my shirt on, just like I did before I was famous. I was living a romantic comedy."
Other actors considered for the role of Jack included Chris O'Donnell, Billy Crudup, and Stephen Dorff. However, director James Cameron thought that most actors casting directors suggested were too old to convincingly portray a 20-year-old. Tom Cruise was interested in portraying the character, but his fee to play the part was too high, and since Cameron's movie was already predicted to be the most expensive ever made at the time, the studio rejected him. James Cameron considered casting Thirty Seconds to Mars singer Jared Leto for the role, but Leto declined an audition.
Leo was first brought to Cameron's attention by casting director Mali Finn, but at first, he didn't have any interest in the character However, Cameron eventually got him to do an audition, stating: "He read it once, then started goofing around, and I could never get him to focus on it again. But for one split second, a shaft of light came down from the heavens and lit up the forest."
As good an actor as McConaughey is, I'm pretty glad that Leo got the job, aren't you?
