Matthew McConaughey

Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. McConaughey first gained notice for his breakout role in the coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993). He went on to appear in films in a variety of genres including the slasher Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), the legal thriller A Time to Kill (1996), Steven Spielberg's historical drama Amistad (1997), the science fiction drama Contact (1997), the comedy EDtv (1999) and the war film U-571 (2000). In the 2000s, he became best known for starring in romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Failure to Launch (2006), Fool's Gold (2008) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). Since 2010 he has moved away from romantic comedies and has had roles in the films The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Bernie (2011), Killer Joe (2011), The Paperboy (2012), Mud (2012), Magic Mike (2012) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). McConaughey achieved further success in 2013 for portraying a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in the biographical film Dallas Buyers Club, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Drama, among other awards and nominations. He also starred as Rustin Cohle in the acclaimed 2014 HBO crime anthology series True Detective. In April 2014, Time magazine included McConaughey in its annual TIME 100 as one of the "Most Influential People in the World." Early life McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born in Uvalde, Texas. His mother, Mary Kathleen "Kay" (née McCabe), was a kindergarten teacher, and later a published author, and his father, James Donald McConaughey, was a gas-station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business and once played NFL football for the Green Bay Packers. McConaughey's mother and late father divorced and re-married each other several times. His ancestry includes Irish, Scottish, and English. He is a relative of General Dandridge McRae. McConaughey had a Methodist upbringing. McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas—located east of Dallas—where he attended Longview High School. While in high school, he was voted most handsome in the Longview Lobo Yearbook. He lived for a year in Warnervale, New South Wales, Australia, as a Rotary exchange student in 1988. McConaughey attended the University of Texas at Austin College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, where he joined Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity and lived at The Castilian residence hall. He began in fall of 1989 and graduated in the spring of 1993 with a B.S. degree in Radio-Television-Film. Career McConaughey began his acting career in 1991, appearing in television commercials, including one for the Austin, Texas daily newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman, in which he is credited as his first speaking role. The line, "How else am I gonna keep up with my 'Horns?" – a reference to his beloved Texas Longhorns sports teams – gave the local community a look at the young actor, before he was cast in Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused. After some smaller roles in Angels in the Outfield, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Boys on the Side, the television series Unsolved Mysteries, and as the male lead in the Trisha Yearwood music video for the song Walkaway Joe, 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 the late '90s McConaughey was cast in leading roles in more movies, including Contact, Amistad, The Newton Boys, EDtv, and U-571. Personal life McConaughey met Brazilian model and television performer Camila Alves in 2006. McConaughey proposed to Alves on Christmas Day 2011. The couple were married on June 9, 2012, in Austin, Texas, where they reside. Together they have three children: son Levi Alves McConaughey (b. 2008), daughter Vida Alves McConaughey (b. 2010), and son Livingston Alves McConaughey (b. 2012).