Matthew McConaughey Almost Quit Hollywood During Rom-Com Era: “There Was Only So Much Bandwidth I Could Give To Those”
Matthew McConaughey Rick Kern / Getty Images / Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
Matthew McConaughey is looking back at his career and revealing that after starring in a string of romantic comedies, he almost quit Hollywood.
The Dallas Buyers Club actor starred in films like The Wedding Planner (2001), How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Failure to Launch (2006), and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), before wanting to move into a different genre.
“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,” McConaughey told Interview. “But I wanted to try some other stuff.”
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McConaughey said that he “wasn’t getting” the roles that he wanted and opted “to leave Hollywood for two years.”
“Dude, it was scary. I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation,” McConaughey said about taking a pause from acting. “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, fuck you, dude. You should have stayed in your lane. Later.'”
McConaughey reiterated that “it was scary” but had made up his mind about needing to take a break, adding, “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.”
Following a two-year break, McConaughey returned to the big screen with The Lincoln Lawyer in 2011. He would go on to star in films like Magic Mike (2012), The Paperboy (2012) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013), which earned him an Oscar.
Other films that followed included The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Interstellar (2014), among many others.