With a Golden Globe now on his mantle, two movies currently in theaters, a new HBO series and an upcoming Christopher Nolan movie, Matthew McConaughey has officially made the transition from lighter romantic comedies and action movies to edgier award-winning projects.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush and Kit Hoover caught up with the 44-year-old star after taking home the award for Best Actor, Drama for “Dallas Buyers Club,” where he spoke about his career shift in the last few years.
“I had a few things going for me. One, I had enough money in my bank account where I could say, ‘I’m going to say no to some things that I’ve been saying yes to,’ and my rent is going to be paid and the kids are going to eat,” he explained.
The actor said that for almost two years, he went without a significant project, but his wife Camila was always there by his side while he waited for the right role.
“That was a real privilege to be able to say that at the time… plus I had a first child coming into the world [and I] said, ‘I’m going to say, no to some things for a while,’” he told Billy and Kit. “I got down with my wife and said the same thing, I said, ‘I don’t know how long it’s going to be dry’ and it did dry out. It dried up for about 18 months to two years.”
And the Golden Globe-winner has no regrets about the decision to turn down projects.
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“There’s nothing in the past that I passed on that I actually regret. There was a rumor that I had ‘Titanic,’ and turned it down. That was actually false. I don’t know why [James] Cameron said that. I never got an official offer,” he continued.
The father of three was quick to point out that he looks back on all his projects with great love.
“My career was going fine. I enjoyed my career. I enjoyed romantic comedies. I enjoyed the action comedies. I enjoyed the action movies that I was doing. I enjoyed all those. I just wanted to shake up my career, recalibrate, shift gears, and evolve a little bit to do something that was turning me on at this time in my life,” he explained “Call that turning 40 as a man, I don’t know. It could be many things. Call it having a family. All of these things add to it.”
Find out if Matthew gets an Oscar nomination for his role as Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club,” on Thursday on AccessHollywood.com.
— Jesse Spero
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