“If you've seen Matthew and seen any of his acting he's so handsome and such a wonderful actor it was just a matter of time before something happened for him. ``I think they were just so happy that John and I finally agreed. “The studio said OK immediately," Schumacher recalled. Schumacher sent Grisham a copy of the screen test. I didn't want everyone in Hollywood to know about it because if he didn't get the part, I didn't want it to seem like he failed." “We brought him in on Mother's Day, did a very inexpensive screen test. I knew you had an ace up your sleeve.' And I did, but I didn't think I had a chance of pulling it off. “Then I told him, `I've got one other idea. “After a while, I finally said to John, `The part may be uncastable to you.' I felt like John maybe had invested too much of himself in that character. knew they could get a big star, and lots of big stars wanted to do this. “I had Matthew in mind for a year, but it just didn't seem possible. ``I don't think there is a male actor on earth we didn't discuss. “We went through everybody from Macaulay Culkin to George Burns," Schumacher said with a laugh. He was chosen for “A Time to Kill,” in part, because Schumacher and author John Grisham couldn't agree on who was right for the role. McConaughey had played in “Boys on the Side” and “Dazed and Confused.” The latter was a big hit on the college scene “I get letters saying that they show it every Friday night around the fraternity houses," he said but neither classifies as a box office smash. It was one of those moments that marks time." And the people who saw it felt like they had just witnessed the birth of a great, great actor. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when he finished. The next day he delivered what veteran movie publicist Michael Singer described as “an unbelievable performance. Two nights later, hours before he would address the jury, he politely turned down friends' invitation to dinner and sequestered himself in a Madison County lake house, his home since September. He ate boiled shrimp and raw oysters and danced four hours non-stop at the movie's wrap party at Hal & Mal's in Jackson. McConaughey, who's in his mid-20s, allowed himself one night on the town before preparing for the final scenes. then I certainly hope they're not on the jury." And anyone who would rather hear a lawyer talking up there. I want those people on the jury to see me as a person, hear me as a person. ”In fact, I've tried to stay away from the way any of the lawyers talk that I've seen on TV, 'cause I don't really like any of them. “To be honest, the summation has very little to do with being a lawyer or knowing how lawyers talk," McConaughey explained. The summation would be particularly demanding, a soliloquy of sorts that could be a make-or-break moment in the movie. Two important scenes remained: His summary to the jury, pleading the case of a father who murdered two men after they raped his 9-year-old daughter and his visit at the hospital with his law clerk, played by Sandra Bullock, after she was assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan. “But my prevent defense ain't worth a crap, and I've got to move the ball back down the field and score again and again and again. So when someone likened him to a football coach whose team had a huge lead at the two-minute warning, McConaughey shook his head. He had learned hundreds of pages of dialogue, worked with some of the movie industry's biggest stars, been reminded almost daily that a lot of Hollywood heavyweights were counting on him. He had filmed 12 straight weeks, five and six days a week. Since arriving in Madison County three months ago, driving a blue Toyota pickup truck with his dog, Miss Hud, riding shotgun, he has been determined to make the most of it.Įven as the movie entered its final week of production here, McConaughey kept a cautious approach to his assignment. “Then I went back into the house, got down on my knees and thanked God for the opportunity he had given me." “I went out in the yard and yelled `(bleep) yeah!' about twenty times," said McConaughey, who had been in Hollywood only two years, was relatively unknown and looking for a break. Jackson would be his co-stars, Joel Schumacher his director. CANTON – - He took the news last May with all the calm and grace of a man who had just won the lottery: Matthew McConaughey would play the lead role of lawyer Jake Brigance in the movie, “A Time to Kill.” Sandra Bullock and Samuel L.
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