It’s not easy to reinvent oneself in Hollywood, but Matthew McConaughey can say he’s one of the few who made it happen. The actor who was once known for all his romantic comedies made the decision in 2009 to no longer accept roles in the genre. He came out on the other side with the “McConissance” in the early 2010s which included his Oscar winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club. However, apparently his family just didn’t get it when he was in mid-transition.
In a new interview with The Guardian, McConaughey recalled feeling like he was being typecast just as he had become a new father with wife Camila Alves. As he explained:
I was good at something I wasn’t loving. I was never looking in the mirror going: ‘My life’s more vital than my work, oh I wish my work was as vital as my life.’ I remember going: ‘Well good luck, because if it’s got to be one way or the other, good on you that you feel your life’s more vital than your work and that it’s not the other way around.’ But I was like, ‘I want to go for it, I want to see if my work can be an experience for me that is so vital and alive that it challenges the vitality I’m having in my own life.’
At the time, McConaughey had spent about a decade of his career doing one romantic comedy after the other, including 2001’s The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and Fool’s Gold with Kate Hudson, Failure To Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker, and his final bow, 2009’s Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past with Jennifer Garner. In an effort to change his trajectory, he made a joint decision with Alves that he’d say no to more romantic comedies, but not everyone was on board. McConaughey continued:
My brothers were like: ‘Little brother, what is your major mal-fucking-function? What are you thinking?’ And I was like: ‘No, this is clear to me and Camila, we’re going to do this. We’re not going to pull parachute. We’re gonna ride this.’ And 20 months later, the levee broke and the offers came in that I wanted.
While there was definitely patience involved in changing the course of his career, what resulted was a moment for the actor that coined the term “McConaissance.” From Killer Joe and Mud to Magic Mike, The Wolf of Wall Street and the modern tear-jerking sci-fi classic Interstellar, the Texan actor reached his goal of finding more challenging roles in his third decade as a working actor. He also decided to leave Los Angeles to raise his family in Texas, with the goal in mind only to take roles he wanted to do.
Obviously, that’ll never stop his romantic comedies from being as iconic as they are. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is so beloved that he and Kate Hudson have even shown interest in doing a sequel. The actor also recreated the poster with his wife last year to promote their tequila brand.
As of late, McConaughey has been in his author era, between his bestselling memoir Greenlights and his new collection of poetry, Poems & Prayers, currently on Amazon’s bestseller list. The actor also has 2025 movie releases on the way, with The Lost Bus, streaming on Apple TV+ starting October 3.
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