Matthew McConaughey discusses his chest-thumping scene from 'Wolf of Wall Street'
Los Angeles: Director Martin Scorsese's 2013 feature "The Wolf of Wall Street" might belong to Leonardo DiCaprio but it wouldn't be as perfect as it was without Matthew McConaughey's chest-thumping scene.
The movie was based on the true story of New York City stock broker Jordan Belfort, played by DiCaprio, chronicling his rise and fall in the 90s.
McConaughey played the role of Mark Hanna, the boss of Belfort at his earlier company L.F. Rothschild.
In one of the key scenes from the movie, McConaughey's Hanna is explaining the rules of the stockbroking game to Belfort at a high-end restaurant when he starts thumping his chest with his fist in a musical rhythm accompanied with synchronised chants.
The 50-year-old actor decided to decode the scene during his new Twitter series "McConaughey Takes".
"They had this one line that was written, and I call it a launchpad line. 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?'" McConaughey said.
He said the chant was not written in the script and it was actually a technique for relaxation that he used to do before every scene in every movie.
"The actual chant, that is something I'll do not only in this film but before scenes in a lot of films. 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," the actor added.
But DiCaprio observed McConaughey's habit and asked the director to include it in the scene.
"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?'
"We rolled and I did it in the beginning and then into my sales pitch. And I didn't know if I was going to do it again. I got to the end and I said, 'You know what, musically it'd be great to book in this scene with that. Because I start off with the beat and then I give them a rap on what it is to be a broker in this business," the actor said, adding that the scene was shot in just one take.
