Richard Linklater and Matthew McConaughey talk about their collaborative work on Dazed and Confused, and how it inspired the line, “Alright, Alright, Alright.”
Funding for Richard Linklater – dream is destiny is provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
I didn't know what to do except bring the exact same methodology. Whether I'm working with an experienced actor or an amateur - someone I knew in acting class or someone we just found off the street - I kind of worked with him in the same way. It's like, well here's the scene - whether it's written, you know, it's like - here's the scene written, but what do you think? Let's work on it. That collaborative element that I really learned in acting classes - that was just something - I had exact ways I wanted to work. And my sister, who's my assistant - Patricia, she's helping me on the movie - she goes, 'I think Cynthia is so cute with that red hair she should have more scenes.' She's just kind of talking and I'm like, 'that's a good idea!'
What if he's flirting with her? I get called up to the set one night to do wardrobe test and so Rick comes over in a break, he goes, 'You know Wooderson's the kind 'of guy - he's already been with like the quintessential - the typical hot hotties. He's been 'with the cheerleader and all that stuff. You think he'd go after the redheaded intellectual? Would he be interested?' And I was like, 'yeah I think he would. Hey, Wooderson likes all kinds of women.' He was like, 'Think he'd maybe pull up and try and pick her up?' I'm like, 'Yeah - give me 30 minutes.' And I remember I took a walk.
So I started getting nervous that's my first scene ever and I started to ask myself, 'Who's my man? Who is Wooderson?' And I go, 'Okay - I'm about my car. I'm about getting high. I'm about rock and roll, and I'm about chicks.' And I'm in my '70s Chevelle. There's one.
Slater's over there, so we know we've got a doobah rolled up and we're getting high. Nugent's coming out of the speakers - we got rock and roll. And I hear 'action,' and I look up and I go, 'and there's the chick.' So I got three out of four. All right, all right, all right.
How you doing? Pretty good.
So that was three affirmations for what I had and it really relaxed me to pull that. And those are the first words I ever said on film.
Bye. I love those redheads man. That dynamic kind of came out of rehearsal and it was just - once we took that, you know, it could come even more alive when we were shooting. I never saw films as something to just render. I always saw them as these living breathing things trying to be something else. Do you realize when he graduated we were like three years old?
Oh, Cynthia what are you thinking? I don't know. So are we're going to still go? Yeah, what the hell?
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