Long before he blew the roof off with his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club, or journeyed through a wormhole and beyond for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey got his big break thanks to Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.
Initially released in ’94, Kim Henkel’s instantly forgettable slasher sequel placed McConaughey alongside Renée Zellweger – for the record, Zellweger also made her start running away from Vilmer Slaughter. But had things panned out differently, Matthew McConaughey would have been the hero of Henkel’s horror flick, and not the bat-shit insane psychopath hobbling around on a mechanical leg.
In a previous interview on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (via Bloody Disgusting), the Oscar-winner confirmed that he was initially offered a Romeo-esque role to Zellweger’s Juliet.
I actually been offered the part of a guy who shows up on a motorcycle at the beginning of the movie, and rides off into the sunset with Zellweger’s character [Jenny]. It never made the cut.
How’s that for an unexpected piece of horror movie trivia for Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation? If nothing else, now that McConaughey has established himself as one of the best in the business (True Detective, the aforementioned Dallas Buyers Club), it’s fun to look back and see the actor play against type. Long, long before he ever staged the so-called McConaissance.
When it comes to the Texas Chainsaw franchise, though, directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury recently carved out a new and suitably bloody chapter in the Sawyer legacy with Leatherface. First released back in September, the horror prequel didn’t fare terribly well with critics, and didn’t even break $1 million in ticket sales. So whereas A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween are poised for resurrections, it looks certain that ol’ Leatherface will be placed on ice for the time being.
