Matthew McConaughey nearly became wildlife guide when he stepped away from Hollywood
Opening up about how he nearly took his career in a dramatically different path when he stepped back from movies for two years after romantic comedies were all that was being offered to him early in his career, Matthew McConaughey has admitted he nearly became a wildlife guide.
Matthew McConaughey nearly became a wildlife guide when he was thinking of quitting Hollywood.
The ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ actor, 54, opened up about how he nearly took his career in a dramatically different path when he stepped back from movies for two years after romantic comedies were all that was being offered to him early in his career.
He told fellow actor Glen Powell, 35, in a joint chat for Interview magazine, about the “scary” period in his life: “I’ve usually zigged when I felt like Hollywood wanted me to zag.
“When I had my rom-com years, there was only so much bandwidth I could give to those and those were some solid hits for me.
“But I wanted to try some other stuff. Of course I wasn’t getting it, so I had to leave Hollywood for two years.”
Matthew became a king of the rom-com genre thanks to films including ‘The Wedding Planner’, ‘Failure to Launch’, ‘Fool’s Gold’ and ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’ – as almost all the films grossed more than $100 million at the global box office.
The actor – who has since reinvented himself as an Oscar-winning dramatic star – added about his move away from Hollywood and the popular flicks: “Dude, it was scary. I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation: ‘I think I’m going to teach high school classes. I think I’m going to study to be a conductor. I think I’m going to go be a wildlife guide.’
“I honestly thought, ‘I stepped out of Hollywood. I got out of my lane.’
“The lane Hollywood said I should stay in, and Hollywood’s like, ‘Well, f*** you, dude. You should have stayed in your lane… it was scary.
“The days are long – the sense of insignificance.
“But I made up my mind that that’s what I needed to do, so I wasn’t going to pull the parachute and quit 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.”
Father-of-three Matthew, who has children Levi, 15, Vida, 14, and Livingston, 11, with his wife of 12 years Camila Alves McConaughey, 41, has since starred in critically-acclaimed dramas including ‘Mud’, ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ and ‘Interstellar’ as well as the hit HBO series ‘True Detective’.
He said in his 2020 memoir ‘Greenlights’ he turned down a $14.5 million offer to return to the rom-com genre during his self-imposed years in the Hollywood wilderness.
Matthew revealed in the book: “I declined the offer. If I couldn’t do what I wanted, I wasn’t going to do what I didn’t, no matter the price.”
