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 came to fame after starring in several successful films, including A Time to Kill and U-571. He is known for having played the leading man in several hit romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) and Failure to Launch (2006).
Early life
McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born in Uvalde, Texas; he has Irish ancestry. McConaughey had what he describes as a conservative Christian upbringing. His late father, James Donald McConaughey, ran a Texaco gas station, worked as a truck driver, and was a former professional football player (for the Green Bay Packers, drafted in 1953). His mother, Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe, was a substitute schoolteacher. His parents divorced and re-married each other several times, in what McConaughey describes as a "loving, but unstable relationship".
McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas in 1980 and, after graduating from Longview High School in 1988, where he was voted the most handsome, Matthew lived briefly in Australia. He had relative academic success in high school, and went to college. 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 got his start working in television commercials and was cast in his first role in the 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, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, 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 gained renown and 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 time period, he appeared in the low-budget film, Tiptoes, as a firefighter opposite Kate Beckinsale, 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 a success at the box office.
McConaughey also provided voice work for an ad campaign of the Peace Corps in late 2006.
Personal life
On October 25, 1999, McConaugheey was arrested at his home in Austin, Texas; the charges included possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. The police were responding at 2:37 a.m. to a disturbance call after a neighbor complained of loud music from the house next-door. They arrived to "easily hear very loud music," bongo drum playing and clapping coming from McConaughey's residence. According to official police reports, McConaughey was found dancing around naked and playing bongo drums with a friend, actor Cole Hauser, a co-actor in Dazed and Confused (1993). The drug charges were dropped, but McConaughey pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance and paid a USD $50 fine.
McConaughey seems to have a knack for getting himself involved in unusual situations with animals. In 2006 in Sherman Oaks, California, he reportedly snatched a cat away from two youths who had doused the animal in hairspray and were attempting to light it on fire [1]. Earlier, in 2005, the actor is alleged to have frightened away a coyote that was threatening a mother and her child in a Los Angeles park [2]. An Oprah Winfrey episode from that same year also showed McConaughey participating in a rescue of various pets, including cats, dogs and hamsters, that were stranded after the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina [3].
An avid University of Texas at Austin football fan, McConaughey is often seen at Longhorn games. In addition to his home in Austin, he also owns a 1,600 acre ranch in Texas. He has dated actresses Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, and Penelope Cruz. The two had been together since 2004, soon after Cruz broke up with Tom Cruise in January 2004. The couple split in April of 2006. McConaughey is currently enjoying single life with his friends and has been seen with a number of different women at clubs around the United States. The very fit McConaughey has spent much of the summer of 2006 enjoying some healthy hobbies such as running, surfing, swimming and biking as documented frequently by the paparazzi.
In the November 2006 issue of Details magazine, Mcconaughey flippantly responded to growing rumors that he and cyclist Lance Armstrong were involved in a gay relationship with the comment, "We tried it. Wasn't for us." [4]
Selected filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Widow Claire TBA
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past TBA Just Announced
Hammer Down TBA Just Announced
Dear Deliah TBA Just Announced
2006 We are...Marshall Coach Jack Lengyel
Failure to Launch Tripp
2005 Two for the Money Brandon Lang
Sahara Dirk Pitt
2003 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Benjamin 'Ben' Barry
2002 Reign of Fire Denton Van Zan
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Troy
Frailty Fenton Meiks
2001 The Wedding Planner Steve Edison
2000 U-571 Lt. Andrew Tyler, Executive Officer
1999 Edtv Ed 'Eddie' Pekurny
1998 The Newton Boys Willis Newton
1997 Amistad Baldwin
Contact Palmer Joss
1996 A Time to Kill Jake Tyler Brigance
Lone Star Buddy Deeds
Glory Daze Rental Truck Guy
1995 Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation Vilmer limited release
1994 Angels in the Outfield Ben Williams
1993 Dazed and Confused David Wooderson
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