Career Q&A with Matthew McConaughey. Moderated by Jenelle Riley, Variety.
Texas native Matthew McConaughey is one of Hollywood's most sought-after leading men. A chance meeting in Austin with casting director and producer Don Phillips led him to director Richard Linklater, who launched the actor's career in the cult classic Dazed and Confused. Since then, he has appeared in over 40 feature films that have grossed over $1 billion; and has become a producer, director, and philanthropist -- all the while sticking to his Texas roots and "jk livin'" ["just keep living"] philosophy.
2012 saw him spotlighted in four diverse performances. He won a Spirit Award for his portrayal of Dallas Rising in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike, and was named the year's Best Supporting Actor by both the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics for his work in Magic Mike and Richard Linklater's Bernie. Mr. McConaughey also received acclaim for his performance in Lee Daniels' The Paperboy, and was a Spirit Award nominee for playing the title role in William Friedkin's Killer Joe.
April 2013 saw the release of Jeff Nichols' Mud, which received rave reviews and was a sleeper hit in the national box office top 10 for five weeks. He stars opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, opening in November 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, he will be seen starring alongside Woody Harrelson in the HBO dramatic series True Detective. Mr. McConaughey is currently at work filming Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan, for release in November 2014.
His other films include Brad Furman's The Lincoln Lawyer; Mark Waters' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, with Jennifer Garner of Dallas Buyers Club; Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder; Andy Tennant's Fool's Gold; McG's We Are Marshall; Tom Dey's Failure to Launch; Dan Gilroy's Two for the Money; Donald Petrie's How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days; Rob Bowman's Reign of Fire; Jill and Karen Sprecher's Thirteen Conversations About One Thing; Bill Paxton's Frailty; Adam Shankman's The Wedding Planner; Jonathan Mostow's U-571; Ron Howard's EDtv; Richard Linklater's The Newton Boys; Steven Spielberg's Amistad; Robert Zemeckis' Contact; Joel Schumacher's A Time to Kill; and John Sayles' Lone Star. He earned a People's Choice Award for Sahara, directed by Breck Eisner, the first feature made by his production company j.k. livin productions.
In 2008, Mr. McConaughey started The just keep livin Foundation (www.jklivinfoundation.org), which is dedicated to helping boys and girls transform into men and women through programs that teach the importance of decision-making, health, education, and active living. The Foundation has partnered with Communities in Schools (CIS) -- the nation's largest, non-profit, dropout-prevention organization -in West Los Angeles to implement fitness and wellness programs in two large urban high schools. Through an afterschool program, they are able to give kids a healthy start in life and the promise of a healthy future.