Matthew David McConaughey (/məˈkɒnəheɪ/mə-KON-ə-hay; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedyDazed and Confused (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first success as a leading man came in the legal dramaA Time to Kill (1996). His career progressed with lead roles in the science fiction filmContact (1997), the historical dramaAmistad (1997), and the war filmU-571 (2000).
Matthew David McConaughey was born on November 4, 1969, inUvalde, Texas.[1][2] He has Irish heritage, particularly from theCounty Cavan/County Monaghan area.[3] His mother, Mary Kathleen (née McCabe), a published author and a former kindergarten teacher,[4] was fromTrenton, New Jersey.[5] His father, James Donald McConaughey, also had Irish roots.[3] He was born inMississippi in 1929 and raised inLouisiana[6] where he ran an oil pipe supply business; he played for theKentucky Wildcats and theHouston Cougars college football teams.[7] Jim was selected by theGreen Bay Packers of theNational Football League (NFL) in the 27th round of the1953 NFL draft. He was released before the season began and never played an official league game in the NFL.[8] McConaughey's parents married each other three times, having divorced each other twice.[9] He has two older brothers, Michael and Patrick (who was adopted).[10] Michael, nicknamed "Rooster", is a millionaire who starred in theCNBC docu-seriesWest Texas Investors Club.[11] The family wereMethodists.[12]
He attended theUniversity of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), where he joined theDelta Tau Delta fraternity.[16] He began in the fall of 1989 and graduated in the spring of 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film.[17]
His original plan changed as he had wanted to attendSouthern Methodist University until one of his brothers told him that private-school tuition would have been a burden on the family's finances. He had planned to attend law school after graduation from college[18] but discovered he did not have any interest in becoming a lawyer.[5]
Career
Early 1990s–2000: Career beginnings
In the early 1990s, McConaughey began working in television commercials.[19] In 1992, he was cast as the boyfriend in the music video for "Walkaway Joe", a song byTrisha Yearwood featuringDon Henley.[20] Also that year, he acted in an episode ofUnsolved Mysteries.[21]
Bob Balaban'sMy Boyfriend's Back premiered on August 6, 1993, where McConaughey made his first big screen appearance as ''Guy 2''.[22] On September 24,Richard Linklater'sDazed and Confused premiered.[23][24][25][26] McConaughey played Wooderson in a large ensemble cast of actors who would later become stars. He was not originally cast in the film, as the role of Wooderson was originally small and meant to be cast locally for budget purposes.[27] At the time of casting, he was a film student at theUniversity of Texas inAustin and went out with his girlfriend to the Hyatt hotel bar.[28] He approached casting directorDon Phillips.[29] Phillips recalls, "The bartender says to him, 'See that guy down there? That's Don Phillips. He cast Sean Penn inFast Times.' And Matthew goes, 'I'm gonna go down and talk to this guy.'" Phillips also recalls that Linklater didn't like McConaughey at first "because he was too handsome". During production, another character named Pickford was meant to be a larger role. Due to the behavior of the actor playing Pickford with other cast members, his screen time was cut in favor of McConaughey's character, Wooderson. Linklater recalled "There was another actor who was kind of the opposite [of McConaughey]. He wasn't really getting along with everybody. I could tell the actors weren't responding to him."[30] Much of the Wooderson role was improvised or written on the spot.[30]Dazed and Confused was released on September 24, 1993, in 183 theaters, grossing $918,127 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $7.9 million in North America.[31] The film received positive reviews from critics. The film generally gets favorable reviews.[32] On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, it has a 92% approval rating. The website's critical consensus reads: "Featuring an excellent ensemble cast, a precise feel for the 1970s, and a killer soundtrack,Dazed and Confused is a funny, affectionate, and clear-eyed look at high school life."[33] In her review forThe Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten gave particular praise to Matthew McConaughey's performance: "He is a character we're all too familiar with in the movies, but McConaughey nails this guy without a hint of condescension or whimsy, claiming this character for all time as his own".[34]
The Newton Boys, co-written and directed by Richard Linklater, was released in 1998. It is based on the true story of theNewton Gang, a family of bank robbers fromUvalde, Texas. In 1999, McConaughey acted inEDtv.[19] Directed byRon Howard, it was an adaptation of the Quebecois filmLouis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes) (1994),[48] The film was a box office bomb, grossing only $35.2 million from an $80 million production budget.[49] In 2000, he starred inU-571, a submarine film directed byJonathan Mostow.[50][51]
2001–2011: Romantic comedies and professional expansion
McConaughey in 2008, participating in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon
McConaughey recognized that his "lifestyle, living on the beach, running with my shirt off, doing romantic comedies" had caused him to be typecast for certain roles, and he sought dramatic work with other themes.[62] This shift in his choice of roles has been known as the "McConaissance" between 2011 and 2014.[63] He said:
I got to feeling like, for a few years, I was doing something that I liked to do with romantic and action comedies. But believe me, I noticed there were other things that were not coming in. And if they were coming in, it was in an independent form with a much smaller paycheck, and nobody really wanting to get behind them ... But I knew I could say no to the things I'd been doing. In saying no to those things, I knew work was going to dry up for awhile ... Year and a half, still nothing. At two years, all of a sudden, in my opinion, I became a new good idea for some good directors.[62]
In 2012, McConaughey starred alongsideChanning Tatum inMagic Mike, based on Tatum's early life; it was directed bySteven Soderbergh.[64] Also in 2012 cameMud, which gained him praise for his role as a fugitive.[65]
In April 2014,Time magazine included McConaughey in its annualTime 100 as one of the "Most Influential People in the World".[75] In August 2014, theLincoln Motor Company signed a multi-year collaboration with McConaughey for an ad campaign. The commercials, directed byNicolas Winding Refn (Drive), featured McConaughey as a storyteller driving a Lincoln'sMKC crossover.[76] Shortly after the commercials debuted in September 2014, they were parodied byEllen DeGeneres,Conan O'Brien,Jim Carrey,South Park, andSaturday Night Live. Overall sales for Lincoln increased by 25 percent one month after the ads debuted.[77] The series of commercials starring McConaughey continued for several more years; during this period he also endorsed theMKZ sedan,MKX andNautilus crossovers andAviator SUV.
In 2020 McConaughey published a memoir,Greenlights.[94] On February 6, 2023, it was announced that he voiced an animated version ofElvis Presley on theNetflix animated seriesAgent Elvis, released on March 17, 2023.[95]
McConaughey metCamila Alves in 2006. He and Alves became engaged on December 25, 2011, and were married in a private Catholic ceremony[99] on June 9, 2012, inAustin where they reside.[100][101][102] Together, they have three children.[103][104][105]
A Christian, McConaughey often speaks publicly about his faith.[106][107][108] He attends a non-denominational church.[106][107][108][109] He has stated that he has privately received personal criticism and judgment for his beliefs from some members ofHollywood:[107][108]
I have had – and I won't throw any people under the bus – but I have had moments where I was on stage receiving an award in front of my peers in Hollywood, and there were people in the crowd that I have prayed with before dinners many times, and when I thanked God, I saw some of those people go to clap, but then notice that, "bad thing on my resume" and then sit back on their hands.
In 2023, McConaughey stated that he and longtime friend andTrue Detective co-star/co-executive producerWoody Harrelson could be brothers. His mother claimed to have been intimate with Harrelson's father,Charles Harrelson, around the time of McConaughey's conception.[115][116]
In September 2023,Madame Tussauds New York unveiled a new wax figure of Matthew McConaughey, inspired by his 2021 appearance onThe Tonight Show. The event, featured during McConaughey's visit toThe View, promoted his children's book,Just Because.[117] In September 2025, he published another book,Poems & Prayers.[118]
Politics
McConaughey speaking at the White House in the aftermath of theUvalde school shooting in 2022
In a November 2020 appearance onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, McConaughey denied he was interested in running for governor.[119]The Texas Tribune reported on McConaughey's lack of involvement in politics, saying that he had not voted in a primary race since "at least" 2012 and had never donated to a political campaign at the state or federal level up through 2021.[120] He had voted in the2018 Texas elections and the2020 United States elections.[120]
In March 2021, McConaughey confirmed that he was considering running in the2022 Texas gubernatorial election.[121] In an October 2021Twitter Spaces interview withNPR, McConaughey was asked if he was going to run forgovernor of Texas. He replied, "I am not – until I am."[122] When asked questions about political issues, such as voting rights and abortion, McConaughey opted to remain "purposely vague", and he did not disclose his political party.[123][124] Just over two weeks before the Texas primary candidate filing deadline, McConaughey released a video on his official Twitter profile stating that he would not be competing for the office.[125][126]
In June 2022, McConaughey joined the White House press briefing and advocated for "commonsense gun laws" during a 20-minute speech, in which he spoke about theUvalde school shooting, which occurred in his hometown of Uvalde.[127] He said, "We need responsible gun ownership. We need background checks. We need to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 rifle to 21. We need a waiting period for those rifles. We need red flag laws and consequences for those who abuse them."[128]CNN described the speech as "impassioned and at-times emotional".[127]
In July 2024, McConaughey spoke at the annualNational Governors Association meeting. He reiterated his interest in running for political office and said he has been "on a learning tour".[129]
Philanthropy
McConaughey started the "just keep livin foundation", which is "dedicated to helping teenage kids lead active lives and make healthy choices to become great men and women".[130] On February 25, 2016, McConaughey received the Creative Conscience award fromunite4:humanity for his work with his foundation.[131]
In 2019, McConaughey officially became a professor of practice for the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the Moody College of Communication at hisalma mater, UT-Austin; he had served as a visiting instructor since 2015.[132][133] The first two sessions were about the filming of the movieFree State of Jones.[134]
^ab"Matthew McConaughey hopes to send his kids to the Gaeltacht". IrishCentral. June 21, 2017.Archived from the original on September 29, 2016.[McConaughey wants] his children to be immersed in the culture andcraic of Ireland and that he hopes that he too can learna cupla focail (a little Irish) along the way. "I gotta keep up theGaelic. I want them reading the literature. I wantRiverdancing. I want them saying 'grand' and 'lunatic" to the marvelous," said McConaughey. "When they're older, I want to send them to thatIrish language summer camp you guys do. It's like a rite of passage for you guys, isn't it? When you're teenagers. I want them fluent – which means I gotta do a crash course too."
^abcCohen, Jason (August 1996)."His Time to Kill".Texas Monthly.Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. RetrievedOctober 28, 2014.Big Jim ran a Texaco station in Uvalde, but in 1980 – boom time – he moved the family to Longview and went into the pipe business. McConaughey's mother, Kay, was aTrenton, New Jersey-born schoolteacher, and in the course of 39 years she and Big Jim were twice divorced and twice remarried (Big Jim died in 1992). Nevertheless, it was a fairly religious, no-nonsense family with a few simple rules: no lying, no back talk, and, McConaughey remembers, 'You could never say "I can't."'
^Schruers, Fred (August 22, 1996)."Hot Actor: Matthew McConaughey".Rolling Stone.Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. RetrievedJune 16, 2018.Jim McConaughey was born inMississippi in 1929 and raised inMorgan City, La., and was 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds when he started playing defensive end for college coaching legendBear Bryant (with whom he shared a nickname) at theUniversity of Kentucky. He moved on before Bear did and played his last two years at theUniversity of Houston, winning a watch as the conference's most improved player before being drafted by theGreen Bay Packers in 1953. Before long, though, he was back in Texas with his bride, Kay, ending up in Uvalde (population today: 15,000). "Matthew was an accident," insists Rooster.
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