Matthew McConaughey deconstructs his signature phrase in this exclusive clip

PBS’s award-winning American Masters series is famous for delving into the creative processes of a wide and varied list of esteemed artists, and the upcoming season features everyone from Edgar Allen Poe to Bob Hope to film director Richard Linklater. The Linklater segment, entitled “Dream Is Destiny,” will feature conversations with the director’s favorite actors like Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey, talking about Linklater’s extensive cinematic history that now includes films like School Of Rock, the animated Waking Life, and the award-winning Boyhood. The American Masters broadcast is the exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere of the Dream Is Destiny documentary, which world-premiered at Sundance last year and marks the directorial debut of The Austin Chronicle editor and SXSW co-founder Louis Black, co-directed by Karen Bernstein.

Linklater’s first film was Slacker in 1991, followed by the 1993 youth ensemble comedy Dazed And Confused, a fairly plotless movie filled with mostly unknowns that became a nostalgic hit still beloved decades later. For McConaughey, his film debut as the older character of Wooderson became his breakout role, clarified by lines like, “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age,” and the now-iconic, “Alright, alright, alright.” In the clip above, exclusive to The A.V. Club, the actor reveals that those three words were actually the first he ever spoke on film, and they each have a very specific meaning behind them. After seeing the clip, it’ll make more sense that he even pulled them out onstage while accepting his Oscar.

“Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny” premieres on PBS this Friday, September 1 at 9 p.m. ET, and will be able to stream the following day on pbs.org.