Matthew McConaughey Reveals the Origin of 'Alright, Alright, Alright'

As if you weren't already aware, one of Matthew McConaughey's most famous movie lines is the frequently imitated "Alright, alright, alright" from the 1993 film Dazed and Confused.

Throughout the recent award season, McConaughey called upon this recognizable phrase in his acceptance speeches at both the Oscars and Golden Globes when he won awards for Best Actor for the role of Ronald Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club. While most people can instantly match the phrase to the actor, do you know its origin story?

During a recent appearance on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, the 44-year-old actor finally told the tale of how that phrase came to be--and apparently it wasn't written into the script. McConaughey describes a conversation he had with director Richard Linklater about how his character would behave in an upcoming bar scene.

Before shooting, he went for a walk by himself and got in a car and listened to some music to calm his nerves and heard Jim Morrison say "alright, alright, alright, alright" between two songs. Hearing Morrison repeat that word four times gave McConaughey an idea.

"So right before I'm about to go I think 'what is Wooderson about?'" the actor explains. "And I go, 'man he's about four things: he's about his car, he's about getting high, he's about rock 'n roll, and picking up chicks.' And I go, 'I'm in my car, I'm high as a kite, I'm listening to rock 'n roll--action!--and there's the chick. Alright, alright, alright. Three out of four!"