Matthew McConaughey auditioned for Titanic and was 'devastated' when it went to Leo DiCaprio

Matthew McConaughey auditioned for Titanic. 

The 49-year-old actor admitted that he was desperate for the lead role of Jack Dawson in the 1997 movie, which eventually went to Leonardo DiCaprio, and was devastated when he never heard back from producers after his audition, the Daily Mail reports.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast on Saturday, Matthew said: 'I went and auditioned for that. I wanted that. 

I auditioned with Kate Winslet. Had a good audition. Walked away from there pretty confident that I had it. I didn't get it. I never got offered that.”

And Matthew - who celebrated his 49th birthday on Sunday - also insisted he doesn't regret his years as a romantic-comedy leading man, revealing he loved going to work at the time. 

He said: 'It was fun, it was great pay and I learned that, you know what, these are not the type of movies to dig deep [within one's own experience]. They were "Saturday characters." I remember saying, "I'm gonna give myself another Saturday!"

'They were fun. The pay was great. I was looking forward to them. I enjoyed going to work. I was also living on a beach and going out without my shirt on, just like I did before I was famous. I was living a romantic-comedy.”