Character Spotlight: David Wooderson
The salmon-colored jeans and the
Nugent t-shirt. The 1970 Chevy Chevelle Super Sport 454 nicknamed
"Melba Toast". "Alright, alright, alright". The
legend that Matthew McConaughey helped create from Richard Linklater's high
school memories. David Wooderson is all that and more. He currently
loves redheads and has nothing more on his mind than Aerosmith tickets for June
24, 1976.
The original version of the script
was fairly light on Wooderson content. He was not supposed to be a major
player, but more of an exotic seasoning with a small sprinkle here and
there. Because Wooderson only had a few lines, it was a role they were
casting locally in Austin. Casting Director Don Phillips was staying in
Austin at the Hyatt Regency. One Thursday night, he was in the bar at the
top of the hotel, hanging out. In comes a good looking guy and his
equally good looking gal. Little did Don know that McConaughey's girlfriend
had convinced him to go out that night, and they went to the Hyatt because
Matthew knew the bartender from school and could get a discount.
The bartender friend tipped Matthew
off to the Hollywood casting director at the other end of the bar.
McConaughey introduced himself and immediately hit it off with
Don. They drank and talked film and golf, eventually becoming so
boisterous in discussing one local golf hole that the Hyatt threw them out of
the bar. Before the end of the evening, Phillips asked Matthew to
come down to the casting offices. At first, Linklater thought McConaughey
was a bit too clean cut and good looking for his vision of
Wooderson.
However, as he describes, that quickly
became a non-issue: “But Matthew just sunk into character. His eyes shut to
little quarter slots, and he said, ‘Hey, man, you got a joint?’ He just became
that guy. He told me ‘I’m not this guy, but I know this
guy.’ I thought, ‘Okay, don't cut your hair. Can you grow a beard
and a mustache?’ ” Linklater wrote in his diary about McConaughey’s
arrival on set: “Matthew McConaughey (who plays high school has-been Wooderson)
shows up a couple of weeks into the shoot (when we start nights), and I can
feel the crew completely catch a groove that will be with us the rest of the
way. ‘Alright, alright, alright,’ I hear them start repeating after an inspired
bit was improvised on his first night.” A few lines turned into a
more major role. Eventually, Matthew would pack up his things in a U-Haul
and set out for California in August of 1993, the month before Dazed premiered,
to pursue acting. When he reached LA he stayed with none other than
his buddy Don Phillips.
With Wooderson, what you see is
mostly what you get: cars, rock n' roll, getting high, and girls. He's
not an aggressive asshole, like O'Bannion. He's not looking to bust any
freshmen, and is willing to give them a ride and hang out with them. He's a pretty easy-going guy. Apparently, he was a prominent part of the high school football team back in the
day, gaining All-State honors over Officer Richard Rath, as noted when
the cops show up in the pre-dawn hours at the football field.
He helps break up the fight at the
beer bust, and I think it's partially because he's a mellow dude and also because he knows there are better things to be doing...like cars, rock n' roll,
getting high, and girls. He's a lover, not a fighter, if you will.
He's seems to be friends with everyone, and doesn't blink an eye when Pink
wants to pick up Mitch.
Wooderson is well beyond high
school, but hangs out with many high schoolers. I don't think you see
this type of thing much anymore, but as a child of the 1970s, I can say it
wasn't too unusual back then. My male-dominated groups had an older guy
here or there that was always hanging around. Wooderson is currently
working for the city to "keep a little change" in his pocket, but
he's thinking about going back to school - but only as a source of chicks, as
he's not sure he can stand listening to some dipshit college professor who
doesn't know what he's talking about. David has it all figured out, I
guess. I'd hate to see him in 15 years, but I hope he's happy.
But Wooderson is not as simplistic
as meets the eye. As the film goes on, he shares some relatively
insightful thoughts at the 50 yard line, in the context of a man-child
delivering his wisdom to a bunch of dumb teenagers. His slow-motion walk
into the Emporium, a cinematic highlight of the film, is both a testament to
how cool he still is in that moment and that scenario, and a reminder that this
is likely, at best, the paramount time in his life. It's more likely he
is in decline, at least based on his current standards. He doesn't seem to have any desire to leave the small town they live in.
Perhaps he's just a late bloomer,
and will gain some sense of direction in the near future. But maybe that won't
lead him anywhere anyway. Is it possible to know what happened to
Wooderson? Maybe, sorta, kinda. You see, Dazed and Confused has
a "spiritual sequel" from Linklater from 2015, titled Everybody
Wants Some. If you haven't read my post on that movie, check it
out here.
There is a vaguely Wooderson-like character, and Forrest Wickman over
at Slate serves up some great analysis on the Wooderson-Willoughby connection,
so check it out:
In the end, like many characters in Dazed, Wooderson is one of
"those guys", a specific type of character that reminds you of
someone you may have known or known about. The character was most
definitely brought to glorious life by Matthew McConaughey. It is one
of the greatest acting performances I've ever seen and really helps to make
this movie. For even more information about Wooderson and how McConaughey
played him, the story behind "Alright, alright, alright" and other
tales of Matthew during the filming of the movie in Austin, TX, be sure to
click here to
read my Extended Analysis of the movie and here for Dazed
and Confused tidbits, quotes and fun facts.
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