43 Fun Facts About Dazed and Confused

Who wrote and directed Dazed and Confused?

Richard Linklater wrote and directed Dazed and Confused (1993), drawing on his own Texas high-school years in the mid-1970s.

On which day is the film set?

The film takes place on the last day of school, 28 May 1976, running from afternoon into the next dawn.

In which city was the film shot?

Dazed and Confused was shot in and around Austin, Texas, where Linklater lived, though the story's town is never named.

Which earlier Linklater film got the project financed?

Slacker's success at Sundance in 1991 led Universal producer Jim Jacks to back Linklater's next film.

Roughly how large was the film's budget?

Universal's budget for Dazed and Confused was $6.9 million, roughly $7 million, much of it needed for the period-rock soundtrack.

Which Texas town supplied both the director's memories and several character names?

Huntsville, in East Texas, was Linklater's home town, and his high-school years there shaped the film's characters.

Which actor became the film's breakout star?

Matthew McConaughey, a local film student cast in a part meant to be small, walked away with the film and a career.

Where did that actor first meet the casting director?

McConaughey met casting director Don Phillips in the bar of Austin's Hyatt Regency hotel, where a friend was bartending, and talked for hours.

Which character does McConaughey play?

McConaughey plays David Wooderson, the twentysomething who keeps hanging around the high-school crowd and delivers 'alright, alright, alright'.

Where did the actor say he got the repeated line 'alright, alright, alright'?

He remembered the singer repeating the phrase four times, and used it in his very first scene.

Which sequence did McConaughey shoot first?

He asked for thirty minutes beforehand to walk around and work out who the character was.

Why did one actor's role shrink in favour of McConaughey's?

Much of the enlarged Wooderson material was improvised or written on the spot.

What position does Randall 'Pink' Floyd play?

Pink is the football team's star quarterback, the player the coach most wants to keep in line for the coming season.

What happens to the incoming freshman girls during the hazing?

Mustard, ketchup, flour and raw eggs, in a very hot parking lot, with most of the extras lacking sunscreen.

Which character delights in paddling the freshman Mitch Kramer?

Fred O'Bannion, played by Ben Affleck, is the senior held back a year who relishes paddling Mitch and the other freshmen.

Where do the friends smoke marijuana as night turns to dawn?

At dawn Pink, Wooderson and Slater smoke on the 50-yard line of the football field, where the coach then confronts Pink about the pledge.

Where are the friends heading in the final scene?

Pink leaves with Wooderson and Slater rather than sign the coach's pledge.

Which real building played the fictional Robert E. Lee High?

Bedichek Middle School in south Austin stood in for Lee High, while a Georgetown-area elementary school played the junior high.

What was built at a park for the keg party scenes?

A replica moontower was built at Walter E. Long Park outside Austin, standing in for the city's historic moonlight towers.

When did shooting begin?

Principal photography began in July 1992 in Austin and ran through the hot Texas summer.

Which actor was nearly cast as the bully O'Bannion?

Vince Vaughn auditioned for O'Bannion and came close, but the part went to Ben Affleck after a search through Texas, New York and Los Angeles.

How did the director help the actors find their characters' taste in music?

Those tapes also helped decide what ended up on the soundtrack.

Which Led Zeppelin song was meant to close the film?

Linklater planned to run Led Zeppelin's 'Rock and Roll' over the closing scene, but the band's permission never came.

Which Led Zeppelin member blocked the use of that song?

Robert Plant refused even though Jimmy Page had agreed, so no Led Zeppelin music appears in the film.

Which Aerosmith track appears in the film but not on the soundtrack album?

Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion' opens the film but was left off the 1993 soundtrack album, as were Dylan's 'Hurricane' and Nugent's 'Hey Baby'.

Which cast member performed her own song briefly in the film?

Milla Jovovich, who plays Michelle, sings her own 'The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen)' with a guitar during the party.

How much did the film make in the United States on release?

It was a commercial disappointment that found its audience later on home video.

Where did the film rank on Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies?

Entertainment Weekly placed Dazed and Confused third on its list of the 50 Best High School Movies and also ranked it among the funniest films of its era.

What does Wooderson call his Chevrolet Chevelle?

Wooderson's Chevrolet Chevelle is called Melba Toast, and he proudly rattles off its 750 double-pumper carburettor and 390 horsepower.

How did that defamation case end?

The defamation suit was dismissed; the characters kept their names in every later release of the film.

Which home video label released a two-disc edition in 2006?

The Criterion Collection issued its two-disc DVD of Dazed and Confused in 2006, complete with a Linklater audio commentary.

What extra featured on the 2004 'Flashback Party Edition'?

The 2004 Flashback Party Edition added 'The Blunt Truth', a four-minute parody of 1970s anti-drug educational films.

How was the 2022 restoration made?

The restoration was scanned in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative and remastered in Dolby Vision for Criterion's UHD release.

Dazed and Confused was released in US cinemas on September 24 of which year?

Dazed and Confused opened in US cinemas on 24 September 1993, the same week its soundtrack album went on sale.

Which actor plays Randall 'Pink' Floyd?

Jason London, twin brother of actor Jeremy London, plays Pink, the star player who will not sign the coach's pledge.

Which Austin teenager, the casting team's 'big find', played the freshman Mitch Kramer?

Wiley Wiggins, an Austin teenager with no acting experience, was cast as Mitch Kramer and later starred in Linklater's Waking Life.

Which Foghat song does Mitch listen to on headphones in the final scene?

Foghat's 'Slow Ride' plays as Mitch lies in bed with his headphones and Pink's car heads down the highway to Houston.

Which future Oscar winner appears uncredited after losing the part of Darla to Parker Posey?

Renée Zellweger, later an Oscar winner for Cold Mountain, lost Darla to Parker Posey and appears uncredited in the film.

Which 2016 Linklater film, set at a Texas college in 1980, was its spiritual sequel?

Everybody Wants Some!!, named after the Van Halen song, follows a college baseball team in 1980 and was Linklater's 'spiritual sequel' to Dazed.

Which young actress did casting director Don Phillips want but call 'too young' to leave school?

Don Phillips wanted Claire Danes, then 13, but judged her too young to leave school for a summer shoot in Texas.

Which distributor marketed the film as a stoner comedy, to Linklater's dismay?

Gramercy Pictures, Universal's specialty arm, released the film and sold it as a stoner comedy, an angle Linklater resented.

Quentin Tarantino named it one of the ten greatest films ever in which magazine's 2002 poll?

Tarantino listed Dazed and Confused among his ten greatest films in Sight and Sound's 2002 directors' poll, alongside Jaws and Taxi Driver.

In Linklater's earliest concept, the whole film was two guys driving around listening to which band?

Linklater's first notion was simply two guys cruising with ZZ Top's Fandango! on the eight-track, a germ that grew into the ensemble film.