Matthew McConaughey Explains His Decision to Leave Hollywood for 2 Years
At one point in his acting career, Matthew McConaughey wasn’t doing alright, alright, alright.
In fact, the Interstellar star felt trapped in the rom-com leading man archetype after the early aughts, leading him to quit Hollywood for a period of time.
“I’ve usually zigged when I felt like Hollywood wanted me to zag,” he told fellow actor Glen Powell in a recent Interview sit-down. “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.”
During that time, Matthew said he had “long talks” about his career path with wife Camila Alves McConaughey, with whom he shares kids Levi, 15, Vida, 14, and Livingston, 11.
“Dude, it was scary,” the 54-year-old remembered, sharing that he had considered teaching high school or becoming a wildlife guide as a fallback. “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–k you, dude. You should have stayed in your lane. Later.'”