You might’ve heard that Matthew McConaughey nearly played Rob Lowe’s character in Chris Farley’s 1995 comedy classic Tommy Boy, but did you know he auditioned for the part on a heap of mouse turds?

Director Peter Segal shared the crappy circumstances around the encounter while speaking with Entertainment Weekly in celebration of the film’s 30th anniversary and its upcoming release on 4K (out March 25).

“I remember that we were shooting the scene by the lake, and I had been familiar with Dazed and Confused, but I think that was the only thing I had known of McConaughey at the time,” he recalled.

“And we went into some— it was either the restroom or it was like a boat house, but it was on the edge of the lake, and it was just filled with mouse s—,” Segal added. “But that’s where he auditioned. And then, Rob’s schedule changed, and we ended up going with Rob. But yeah, it was a bizarre place to do an audition, that’s for sure.”

Of course, the part ended up going to the Brat Packer, who was the initial choice for the role but had to briefly drop out due to scheduling conflicts that were ultimately resolved. Appearing in his second Saturday Night Live-adjacent film after Wayne’s World, Lowe played the villainous Paul Barrish, Tommy’s older stepbrother, who plots to take over his father’s company with help from his secret lover, partner-in-crime, and pretend mother, Beverly (played by Bo Derek).

Segal recalls his introduction to Derek was even stranger than to McConaughey, calling it “one of the most awkward first meetings of an actress ever.”

“She had to be thrown into costume to shoot the swimming pool scene, getting out of the swimming pool in a bikini,” he says. “And so I was thrust in front of her by a producer, and he says, ‘Approve the wardrobe, please.’ And so she opened up her robe and flashed her bikini, and of course, I kept my eyes looking straight at her eyes. I said, ‘Perfect.’ I can’t look up and down. So that was very weird.”

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The director says he initially didn’t think he “had a shot in hell” in casting the former model, who earned a Razzie nomination for her performance. “I was such a big Blake Edwards fan, and the movie 10 put me through puberty,” he says. “So when we were thinking about who could play Beverly, her name came up, and we didn’t think we had a shot in hell. But somehow or other, it worked out.”