Matthew McConaughey: how I turned my career around

Matthew McConaughey has been experiencing a career renaissance. From rom-com regular to indie darling, he’s managed a genuinely impressive turn-around, ditching the cheese for critical acclaim. See ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ or Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Magic Mike’ for proof.

So how exactly did the actor best known for the sickly ‘How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days’ achieve the feat?

“I didn’t find out about the films and then go chase them. They found me,” says McConaughey. “But they didn’t find me until I stopped, and said ‘no’ to a lot of things.

“I didn’t work for about a year and a half. And son of a gun if these things didn’t start to find me.”

[Related story: How Matthew McConaughey reinvented his career]
[Related story: Magic Mike 2 will recycle plot ideas from first movie]

Speaking exclusively to Yahoo! Movies UK on the promo trail for coming-of-age drama ‘Mud’, McConaughey revealed what it was about his new-found roles that excited him: “They were specific. They were great and interesting directors,” he said. “They were characters that I didn’t know what I’d do with, but I was really turned on by them.”

Testament to the turn-around, ‘Mud’ director Jeff Nichols actually wrote the Southern indie-flick with Texan-born McConaughey in mind, although the actor still doesn’t know why:

“It’s kind of flattering when you read something that’s really good quality, and then you’re told that it was written for you specifically,” said Matthew, who stars as the titular drifter Mud. “I am curious though about why. I don’t know I haven’t asked him.”

“I think what I’m enjoying most about the work that I’m doing now is I’m finding characters that have specific obsessions,” he added. “And I love the poetry coming out of Mud’s mouth. Everything he says you’re like ‘Wow, that’s wonderful. That’s beautiful. Is it true? Who cares if it’s true.’”

Watch the rest of our interview with Matthew above, including his influence on Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in upcoming dollar-driven Scorsese drama ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’.

‘Mud’, co-starring Reese Witherspoon and Michael Shannon, is out in the UK 10 May 2013.