Matthew McConaughey Got His Texas Chainsaw Massacre Role By Auditioning With A Spoon

One of actor Matthew McConaughey's earlier roles was the killer Vilmer in 1994's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. In a new video, the Oscar-winner shares a story of how he landed the role, and it involves scaring a woman with a tablespoon.

On his YouTube channel, he recalls that he originally auditioned to play a smaller role in the film, and as part of his tryout, the producers asked if he knew anyone who might be good in the lead killer role. He gave the producers a few names, and walked out to his truck to leave Texas and pursue his acting career and a new life in Hollywood.

"As I got to the end of the curb to get in my truck, which already had my U-Haul packed up to come to California behind it, attached, I said, 'I should try out for that role.' So I went back down the sidewalk, went in, and they said, 'Did you forget something?' I said, 'No, I didn't forget anything but I want to try out for the role of Vilmer,'" McConaughey said (via The Hollywood Reporter).

A secretary working in the office raised her hand and volunteered to act in the audition with McConaughey. He didn't have any prop weapons available for the scene, so he dashed to the kitchen and found a tablespoon, a common kitchen item that would end up helping him land the role.

"I ran to the kitchen which was in this house where the office was, grabbed a big tablespoon out of the drawer, came back in and just pinned her in a corner and acted like it was a weapon," he said. "Did it until she cried. They were like, 'Cut,' and [director Kim Henkel] was like, 'That was good.' And the girl was like, 'Yeah, that was really good, you really scared me.' And then Kim goes, 'Do you want the part?' And I go, 'Yeah, I'll take the part.' I had to unpack the U-Haul and go sleep on a friend's couch for the next 30 days because I got the lead killer Vilmer in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. And then I drove out to Hollywood."

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation was McConaughey's second big movie after 1993's Dazed and Confused.