Matthew McConaughey Shares How His Brother Inspired 'Dazed and Confused'

Matthew McConaughey revealed the unexpected origin of one of his most famous characters—Dazed and Confused’s David Wooderson. McConaughey made the revelation on the Jan. 7 episode of Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name.

Dazed and Confused Was McConaughey's Breakthrough

In addition to launching McConaughey’s mainstream career and birthing his iconic catchphrase, Richard Linklater's 1993 comedy gave audiences what is still one of the actor’s most beloved and recognizable characters in Wooderson. In typical McConaughey fashion, the star recalled netting the part after partying late into the night with casting director Don Phillips. After spotting Phillips at a hotel bar, McConaughey made his way over, and the two proceeded to engage in a raucous drinking session that saw them “kicked out.” Phillips asked McConaughey if he’d ever acted before, and then told the young actor to come to an audition the next morning.

McConaughey arrived to find the Dazed and Confused script and a note from Phillips. “‘Hey, Matthew, great night last night. I read this part. You might be right for it,’” the actor recalled. Reading the script, McConaughey immediately felt as though he knew the character. “There's Wooderson, and one of the scenes was him sitting outside of the pool hall, talking to his buddies. And girls walk by, and he leans over and checks out their backsides, and his buddy says, ‘Wooderson, you got to cut that out, man. You're going to go to jail, man.’ And Wooderson says, ‘No, man. That's what I love about them high school girls, man. I get older, but they stay the same age.’

McConaughey Based Wooderson on His Older Brother

“And I remember going, ‘Who is that guy?’” McConaughey continued, searching his memory banks. “So I'm trying to figure out who the guy is,” when suddenly he remembered an incident from his childhood. “I was 10 years old, going with my mom to go pick up my brother Pat at school,” he said. “And we're driving through the campus, and I'm looking out the back end of that wood-paneled station wagon. I'm looking for Pat…and as we’re going by, about 200 yards away, I see this shadowed figure leaning against the shady wall in the smoking section.”

McConaughey continued: “I can see the ember of this lazy finger cigarette hanging on these two hands. This guy's leaning against the wall with his left leg, boot heel up against the wall, smoking. And I went, it’s my brother.”

'Cooler Than James Dean'

McConaughey knew that alerting his mother would get his brother in trouble, so he said nothing. “In my 10-year-old eyes, my 17-year-old brother, who was my hero, in that shot from 200 yards away, he was cooler than James Dean. He was nine feet tall. He was the coolest man. Now, that's who I based Wooderson on. That wasn't who my brother was, but that, in my 10-year-old eyes, that's who it was."

Dazed and Confused grossed only $8 million upon its release, but it’s gone on to become one of the most iconic comedies of all time. McConaughey starred alongside Ben Affleck, Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Wiley Wiggins, Milla Jovovich, and Parker Posey.