'Matthew David McConaughey' (born
November 4,
1969) is an
American actor. After a series of minor roles in the early
1990s (including his breakout role in ''
Dazed and Confused'', director
Richard Linklater's second feature film), he appeared in films such as ''
A Time to Kill'' and ''
U-571''. He also played the leading man in several romantic comedies, including ''
The Wedding Planner'' (2001), ''
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' (2003) and ''
Failure to Launch'' (2006).
Biography
Early life
McConaughey (pronounced "ma-KON-a-hay"), the youngest of three boys, was born in
Uvalde,
Texas, son of Mary Kathlene "Kay" (McCabe), a substitute school teacher, and James Donald McConaughey, a
gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business and once played
football for the
Green Bay Packers.
[1] McConaughey has Irish ancestry
[2] and had what he describes as a conservative
Christian upbringing.
[3] McConaughey's mother and late father divorced and re-married each other several times, in what McConaughey describes as a "loving, but unstable relationship".
[4]
McConaughey moved to
Longview, Texas in 1980 and graduated from Longview High School in 1988, where he was voted the "Most Handsome".
[5] Matthew lived for a year in
Warnervale,
NSW,
Australia as a
Rotary exchange student.
[6] He studied film direction at the
University of Texas at Austin and was a member of
Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, graduating in 1993.
Career
McConaughey began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and
television commercials in Texas before being cast in Richard Linklater's film ''
Dazed and Confused'' (
1993), after meeting casting director Don Phillips at a bar near the
University of Texas at Austin. After appearing in some additional small parts in ''
Angels in the Outfield'', '', ''
Boys on the Side'', and the television series ''
Unsolved Mysteries'', McConaughey's big break came as the lawyer "Jake Brigance" in the
1996 film ''
A Time to Kill'', based on the
John Grisham novel of the same name. In
1997, McConaughey won an
MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough performance for the role. He has also twice been nominated for a
Blockbuster Entertainment Award.
McConaughey was cast in leading roles in many more movies: ''
Contact'', ''
Amistad'', ''
The Newton Boys'', ''
Edtv'', and ''
U-571''. By the early
2000s, he was frequently cast in
romantic comedies, including ''
The Wedding Planner'' and ''
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'', both of which were successful at the box office. During this period, he appeared as a firefighter in the low-budget film ''Tiptoes'', opposite
Rene Russo, in ''
Two For The Money'' as a protege to
Al Pacino's gambling mogul, and in ''
Frailty'', cast against type as a
serial killer, opposite
Bill Paxton.
McConaughey starred in the feature film ''
Sahara'' (budgeted at $130 million), along with
Steve Zahn and
Penélope Cruz. Prior to the release of the movie, he promoted it by repeating some trips he took in the late
1990s, including sailing down the
Amazon River and trekking to
Mali. In
2005, ''
People'' magazine named him their "
Sexiest Man Alive". In 2006, he co-starred with
Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy ''
Failure to Launch'', which was reasonably successful at the box office.
McConaughey also provided voice work for an ad campaign of the
Peace Corps in late
2006. Matthew's production company, j.k. livin, is currently in development on projects with Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount and Imagine Entertainment and can most recently be seen in the football drama ''
We Are Marshall''. He is supposedly in line to star as
Thomas Magnum in the 2008 movie ''
Magnum, P.I.''
[7]
Personal life
On
October 24,
1999, McConaughey was arrested at his home in
Austin, Texas on charges of possession of
marijuana and resisting arrest. The police were responding to a 2:30 a.m. noise disturbance call. According to police reports, McConaughey was dancing around naked and playing
bongo drums with a friend, actor
Cole Hauser, a co-actor in ''
Dazed and Confused'' (
1993).
[8] The drug charges were dropped, but McConaughey pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance and paid a USD $50 fine. An avid
University of Texas football fan, it was rumored by UT students that he was celebrating after the #18 ranked Longhorns defeated #3 Nebraska 24-20 on October 23, 1999, after attending that day's game. This resulted in his arrest in the early AM hours on October 24. In a press conference following his release, he was wearing a UT burnt orange jacket while speaking to the media where he flashed the
Hook 'em sign before leaving.
In 2005, the actor frightened away a coyote that was threatening a mother and child in a Los Angeles park.
[9]McConaughey rescued various pets, including cats, dogs and hamsters, that were stranded after the flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
[10] In 2006 in
Sherman Oaks, California, he rescued a cat from two youths who had doused the animal in hairspray and were attempting to light it on fire.
[11]
In addition to his home in Austin, he owns a ranch in
Texas. He has dated actresses
Sandra Bullock,
Ashley Judd,
Salli Richardson-Whitfield and more recently
Penelope Cruz. The two had been together since 2004, following Cruz's break-up with
Tom Cruise. He and Cruz separated in
April 2006. He is a
Washington Redskins and
University of Texas at Austin football fan, and he enjoys hobbies such as running, surfing, swimming, and biking.
McConaughey's personal life is the subject of media attention. He is currently dating Brazilian born model Camila Alves. In July 2006, some of his real-life foibles were documented on "McConaughey's Lost Weekend",
[12] a blog with photographs of a "three-day bender in Costa Rica." In the
November 2006 issue of ''
Details'' magazine, McConaughey responded to rumors that he and cyclist
Lance Armstrong were involved in a
gay relationship with the comment, "We tried it. Wasn't for us."
[13]
McConaughey was named
''People'' magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" for 2005. "Extra, NBC" reported in 2006 that McConaughey admits to wearing no underwear and says he doesn't use cologne or deodorant, because he doesn't want to smell like someone else. He said, "People say I ought to start wearing it."
[14] On
December 19,
2006, eBay's homepage featured Matthew's picture and named an auction of autographed items he donated to raise money for charity as the "It" of the day.
McConaughey is also a die-hard fan of
WWE Monday Night RAW, and even claims to have never missed an episode.
Filmography
References
1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/66/Matthew-McConaughey.html
2. Metro.co.uk
3. FindArticles
4. ABC7news.com
5. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000190/bio
6. ONEnews
7. BitsofNews.com: "McConaughey is ''Magnum P.I.''" Retrieved March 25, 2007.
8. The Smoking Gun: "McConaughey1." Retrieved March 25, 2007.
9. Star Pulse blog: "Matthew McConaughey Scares Coyote." Retrieved March 25, 2007.
10. Toronto Fashion Monitor: "Matthew McConaughey Saves the Pets." Retrieved March 25, 2007.
11. ''San Francisco Chronicle'': "McConaughey in Cat Rescue." Retrieved March 25, 2007.
12. http://www.tmz.com/2006/07/07/mcconaugheys-lost-weekend/
13. HollywoodScoop.com: "Quote of the Day." Retrieved April 20, 2007.
14. ContactMusic.com: "McConaughey: I Like my Odor." Retrieved March 25, 2007.
External links
★
★
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
