How did Matthew McConaughey, an unknown texan going to school to be a lawyer, become one of today's most compelling actors? Plop a spot, and I'll let ya know!
Matthew was in his Junior year at the University of Texas at Austin, when he saw a book on a friends table at a frat party. He sat down to glance at it and it changed his life. The book, The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino, inspired him to change his major from law to film. And thus, the story begins! (Get the book here...it's really good, easy to read, and very interesting!)
Soon Matthew met a man named Don Phillips who introduced him to producer/writer Richard Linklater. That meeting led him to his first movie role in Dazed and Confused (1993) as an overaged high school wannabe named Wooderson. Matthew has said this is one of his favorite characters he's ever played and named his production company, j.k. livin', after one of Wooderson's lines in the movie: "Just keep livin, man." After filming, he returned to UT to graduate. His next movie role was Vilmer in The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1993). Quite creepy I've heard...I havn't gotten up the nerve to watch that one yet!
Upon graduating with a degree in Film, Matthew moved to Los Angeles. Before getting too settled in he signed on with the William Morris Agency...just 5 days after he arrived in L.A. This helped him get parts in Angels in the Outfield (1994), Scorpion Spring (1995), and Boys on The Side (1995).
In 1996, the public finally took notice of Matthew in his breakthrough performance as small town lawyer Jake Brigance in the movie A Time To Kill. Writer John Grisham agreed to cast Matthew in A Time to Kill after seeing him in director Joel Shumaker's film Lone Star (1996). It was his role in A Time To Kill that suddenly plunged Matthew into the spotlight. He tells it like this: "Friday afternoon, walking through the Third Street promenade, a thousand people there, nobody there is looking at me. That weekend, that Friday night, A Time To Kill comes out. Next Monday, walking down the same promenade, out of a thousand people, 990 recognize me."
About this time, Matthew did an interview with Vanity Fair and appeared on the cover. It was the first time he realized he had made it. Says Matthew, "I was out in Malibu at this huge market. I'd just been shopping, getting some produce or something, and went to the [magazine] aisle. I looked over there, and there I was on the cover of a magazine. And I was like, "Yeah, I think I'll buy that." Picked it up, took it to the cash register, and said, "It's a good looking kid, isn't it?" And then we just kind of laughed. I remember at that time, all of a sudden, there was sort of a reflex of, 'No, this isn't surreal. This is really happening.'"
After A Time To Kill, Matthew had a supporting actor role in Contact (1997) where he played Palmer Joss, religious advisor to the White House.
His next starring role was in Amistad (1997) as Roger Baldwin, a lawyer defending the slaves sent over on the Amistad ship.
In 1998, Matthew stared in The Newton Boys, a true story of some of the most successful bank robbers of all time. He stared with Skeet Ulrich, Vincent D'onofrio, and Ethan Hawke, to name a few.
1999 brought Matthew's latest release, EdTV. In the movie, Ed Pekurney plays a video store clerk who is chosen to have his life broadcast on TV 24 hours a day.
Awaiting release is U-571, a movie in which Matthew stars as the captain of a U-Boat during World War II that attempts to seize the Enigma, the German decoding machine. The movie is set to release April 21, 2000. Click here to check out the website...it's pretty neat!
Matthew is currently filming The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer plays a wedding planner, who falls for Matthew, one of her clients.
Also in the works for 2000 are Johnny Diamond, and The Last Flight of the Raven.
Matthew has the beginnings of a wonderful career and will hopefully be around for many years to entertain us.
I have strived to make this information as accurate as possible. If you find something, you think is not true, please let me know!
