Matthew McConaughey, known for his captivating performances, recently revisited one of his most iconic roles in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.” As part of his weekly Twitter video series, “McConaughey Takes,” the Academy Award winner delved into his memorable supporting role as Mark Hanna, offering fans a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the film’s breakout moment: the lunch scene with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort.
In this pivotal scene, McConaughey’s character, Mark Hanna, shares his cynical yet brutally honest business philosophy with a young and impressionable Jordan Belfort. McConaughey revealed that he was instantly drawn to a particular line in the script, which he considered a “launchpad” for his character’s development. That line? “The secret is cocaine and hookers.”
“They had this one line that was written, and I call it a launchpad line,” McConaughey explained. “I had one in ‘Dazed and Confused’ and I had one in ‘Magic Mike.’ Sometimes you get a line in a script and the imagination just soars. If you can unpack that line, if this character means that, then there’s an encyclopedia on this character. That line with Mark Hanna is, he’s explaining the secret of his business to Leonardo’s character and he says, ‘The secret is cocaine and hookers.’ I just read that and said, ‘If this guy really believes that, then who the hell is this guy?'”
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Greta Gerwig in Super Bowl ad](Matthew McConaughey and Greta Gerwig discuss movie ideas in a Super Bowl commercial, unrelated to his role in The Wolf of Wall Street.)
This single line unlocked a deeper understanding of Mark Hanna for McConaughey, fueling his portrayal of the morally ambiguous and hedonistic Wall Street veteran. It wasn’t just about excess; it was about the character’s core beliefs and motivations within the cutthroat world of finance depicted in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
However, the scene’s true claim to fame, and arguably McConaughey’s most unforgettable contribution, is the rhythmic chest-pounding chant. This wasn’t scripted; it was pure McConaughey magic, born from his personal acting ritual. Before takes, McConaughey would use this chant as a relaxation technique, a way to get out of his head and into the physicality of the performance.
“The actual chant, that is something I’ll do not only in this film but before scenes in a lot of films,” McConaughey shared. “I’ll come up with a different tune and it’s a relaxation tool for me. It’s musical, so it gets me out of my head because I don’t want to be thinking as an actor, I want to be doing. I was doing it before every take and then on ‘action,’ I’d go to do the scene. It keeps my voice low and my instrument loose.”
Initially, the chant was just McConaughey’s private preparation. After filming the scene as scripted several times, it was Leonardo DiCaprio who recognized the chant’s potential to elevate the scene and character. Observing McConaughey’s ritual, DiCaprio suggested incorporating it into the actual performance.
“We did five takes and we have the scene, Martin is ready to move on and I’m good. As we’re packing up to go onto another scene, Leonardo goes, ‘What’s that thing you’re doing before the scene? What if we put that in the scene?’” McConaughey recounted.
Scorsese, always open to improvisation and enhancing the authenticity of a scene, agreed. They reshot the scene, this time with the chest-pounding chant integrated, and captured the iconic moment in a single take. What started as a personal relaxation technique became a defining characteristic of Mark Hanna and one of the most quoted and imitated scenes from “The Wolf of Wall Street,” forever linking Matthew McConaughey to this unforgettable cinematic moment. McConaughey’s impromptu ritual truly became gold, solidifying his place in the film’s legacy and showcasing his improvisational brilliance.
