Matthew McConaughey was not ‘alright, alright, alright’ being Hollywood’s go-to romantic comedy guy.
If you’ve been a longtime fan of McConaughey, you know that he basically was the male love interest in every ‘00s rom-com.
From ‘The Wedding Planner’ to ‘How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days’ to ‘Failure To Launch,’ McConaughey was center stage. However, most romantic comedies since the early ’00s have lacked the “McConaughey effect.”
And there’s a very good reason why.
He said ‘goodbye’ to rom-coms for good.
In the June/July 2021 edition of AARP The Magazine McConaughey revealed why he stepped away.
He admitted that rom-coms were great to him; but they weren’t fulfilling and were affecting his personal life.
He said, “I was leading a successful life as an actor. I was the go-to rom-com guy. I liked doing rom-coms. They paid well, but I remember noticing at that time that my life was getting very deep. I found the love of my life in [my wife] Camila Alves. We had a newborn coming. I had more joy, I had more sadness. The extremes, the ceilings and the basements of my own emotions of my life had more depth and more height to them. ”
McConaughey came to the realization that his acting work, while amazing and well-paid, were blocking him from getting to the level of acting he desired to be at.
He felt his work in rom-coms were suppressing all of the other emotions he was experiencing in his personal life.
McConaughey continued on saying, “But I still said, ‘Boy, I’d sure like to do some work that challenges the vitality that I’m feeling in my life. And that work, dramas, were not being offered to me.”
While in this middle-of-the-road crisis, McConaughey talked to his wife, agent & business manager to express his desire to leave Hollywood just for a little while.
His agent & business manager’s response, “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN’ MIND?”
However, his wife was there to support him, but only if he went all in. McConaughey described Alves’ response as, “’If we’re going to do this, we’re not going to half-a** it.'”
McConaughey took a sabbatical away from tinsel town, turned down every rom-com script that came his way, one that was even offering $14.5 million!
Hollywood finally caught on to what he was saying and realized he wasn’t bluffing.
McConaughey did have to pay a price for walking away from rom-coms. He said no work came in for almost year and a half.
He thought he’d never work in Hollywood again.
Time went by and in his words, “Then as life happens, ring!”
The offers came flooding in and not one offer was a rom-com.
He booked ‘The Lincoln Lawyer,’ ‘Killer Joe,’ ‘Mud,’ ‘Bernie,’ ‘Magic Mike,’ T’rue Detective,’ and finally ‘Dallas Buyers Club.’
Life finally started to throw everything he wanted his way, and McConaughey was there to say ‘Here We Go!’
He would go on to win the Oscar for Best Actor for “Dallas Buyers Club” in 2014.
In McConaughey’s mind, all the people on the sidelines saying ‘nana nana boo boo’ are there for a reason. To which he says, “Alright, alright, alright. Just keep living.'”
His signature catchphrase were the first three words he ever spoke in a feature film.
Life came full circle.
