Titanic ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
I can’t see Matthew McConaughey as Jack Dawson in Titanic, can you? Sure, it’s not fair to say that now, because who knows if he had been Jack instead of Leonardo DiCaprio, but I just don’t see it.
There has been a rumor going around that McConaughey turned down the role, but he has squashed it.
“I asked [James] Cameron about this, because the gossip over the years that I heard and would see written about me was that I had the [lead] role in ‘Titanic’ and turned it down,” McConaughey recalled. “Not factual. I did not get offered that role.”
Matthew McConaughey clarifies ‘Titanic’ audition rumors: ‘I did not get offered the role’ | Fox News
He did want the role, which I found interesting, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Movies, Movies, Movies 
Retroactive casting is a fascinating exercise. Sort of like alternative history…we movie buffs like to wonder “what if?”
Here are my top “what ifs” of casting in film history:
What if George Raft (or Ronald Reagan) had been cast as Rick Blaine in Casablanca?
What if Tom Tryon had been cast as Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort in The Longest Day?*
What if Perry King had been cast as Han Solo in the original Star Wars movie?**
What if Anne Archer had been cast as Lois Lane in Superman?
What if Tom Selleck had been allowed by CBS to play Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
* John Wayne’s casting in that 1962 movie about the D-Day invasion is one of the things that most bugs me about it. Yes, I know he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, even in 1962, but he was a fifty-something man playing a guy who, in June 1944, was only in his late 20s. If the viewer doesn’t know that going in to The Longest Day, no biggie. But when you read books about D-Day (and I have a bunch of those) and you see a photo of Ben Vandervoort in 1944, you have to shake your head and say, “Does that guy look anything like John Wayne? Nahhh.”
** Perry King auditioned for Han in 1976, but obviously he did not get cast. Ironically, he ended up playing Han in the National Public Radio adaptations of the three Star Wars Trilogy films. He did a good job, too!
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Yeah, the what ifs on casting are fascinating! Good comment.
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Why, thank you, Todd! I’m glad you liked my comment.
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