Acclaimed American actor Matthew McConaughey went through his own “desert” when he decided to temporarily move away from hollywood. In an interview with the actor Glen Powellthe protagonist of Interstellar He spoke about the moment when he came to think that his time in acting was over, even though he had already been the star of several successful romantic comedies.
The actor describes this time as a time when he went against the grain of what the industry expected of him. Movies like Wedding expert, How to lose a man in 10 days either Single at home They were extremely profitable in the cinema and established him as a leading man of the genre. However, McConaughey didn’t want to be pigeonholed.
The artist, known for his tendency to follow his own path, added: “I’ve usually done the opposite of what Hollywood wanted me to do. When I had my years in romantic comedies, I could only show part of my ability, and they were big hits for me. But I wanted to try other things.”, he indicated.
Matthew only received scripts from romcoms and that led him to a kind of exile. “I had to leave Hollywood for two years”, he indicated. The actor shared with Powell that the uncertainty of not knowing when he would return to the filming sets “was terrifying.”
“I had long conversations with my wife about whether I should find a new vocation.”he recalled. “I think I’m going to become a high school teacher. I think I’m going to study to be an orchestra conductor. “I think I’m going to be a safari guide.”
The road to reinventing himself was not easy and McConaughey came to think that Hollywood turned its back on him because of his rebellion in going “off the rails.”
“It was scary. The days are long, the feeling of insignificance. But I decided that was what I had to do, so I wasn’t going to pull the parachute and abandon the mission I was on. But it was scary, because I didn’t know if I was ever going to get out of the desert.”, he expressed.
This hiatus was crucial for McConaughey, who later returned to the industry with a focus on more dramatic roles. The transformation led him to star in recognized films such as The boy and the fugitive, The club of the evicted (for which he won the Oscar for best actor), magic mike and Interstellar.
The pressure of that time had already been commented on by the actor in the memoir he published in 2020. According to him, they offered him $14.5 million to return to the romantic comedy genre when he wanted other types of narratives.
“I turned down the offer,” he explained in his 2020 memoir. “If I couldn’t do what I wanted, I wasn’t going to do what I didn’t want, no matter the price.”.
The support McConaughey found was his wife, Camila Alves McConaugheywhom she married in 2012. The Brazilian-American model and businesswoman took advantage of the Father’s day to remember some harsh advice he gave her about the value of human connections over material possessions. This lesson, according to Camila, was crucial in making important decisions in her life, including those that led her to start a family with McConaughey.
The actor and the designer have three children: Levi15 years old, Life14, and Livingston11. The couple met in 2006 and, as the actor confessed, it was love at first sight.
In a previous interview, McConaughey recalled how he first approached his wife: “As I was trying to get her attention from across the room, I thought, ‘This is not the kind of woman you call from afar, McConaughey. . Get your butt off the chair and go get it.’ And I did it”.
Since their marriage, the couple has jointly supported their professional initiatives. They both also created Pantstheir own brand of tequila, which they launched in October.
