American actor and producer Matthew David McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas. His mother, Mary Kathleen , playing Cooper, a former NASA pilot.
His mother, Mary Kathleen "Kay" McCabe, is a schoolteacher.
He lived for a year in Warnervale, New South Wales, Australia, as a 1988 Rotary exchange student in 1988, returning with an adopted Australian accent which remained with him for awhile after returning to the United States.
Attended the University of Texas at Austin, College of Communication, where he majored in film, receiving his Bachelors degree in Radio-Television-Film.
Attended and graduated from Longview High School in Longview, Texas in 1988.
(October 1999) Arrested in Austin, Texas for "resisting transportation" after first being under suspicion for marijuana possession.
Police responded to a disturbance call at Matthews home in Austin, Texas in October 1999. When they arrived, the music was blaring and Matthew was playing bongo drums in the nude. He was with an unknown man and police attempted to arrest both of them after spotting illegal drugs. Matthew resisted arrest.
Was for some time strongly considered to play Jack Dawson in Titanic , until Leonardo DiCaprio decided to accept the role.
Travelled around Peru after filming A Time to Kill .
Voted "Most Handsome" in his senior year of high school.
Member of Delta Tau Delta, international college fraternity.
He owns a 1,600-acre ranch in west Texas, which he purchased for $500,000.
His father, James Donald McConaughey, died of a heart attack in August 1992. He once played football for the Green Bay Packers.
His first professional acting job was in a beer commercial.
Is a huge fan of John Mellencamp s music. Was seen wearing a T-shirt from Mellencamps "Whenever We Wanted" tour in A Time to Kill .
McConaughey was on the sidelines with the Texas Longhorns football team during the 2006 Rose Bowl, when the Longhorns beat the USC Trojans 41-38.
Was accompanied by Penlope Cruz to the Grammy Awards in 2005. The couple met on the set of Sahara .
(February 2005) Served as the Grand Marshall for the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
He traveled around the United States for a month in his personal Airsteam trailer promoting his movie Sahara .
During a guest appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" , Leno surprised him with an old airline training tape he had acted in. McConaughey had no memory of being in the video.
His ancestry includes Irish, as well as English, German, Scottish and Swedish. On his fathers side, he is related to Confederate Brigadier General Dandridge McRae, who was born in Baldwin County, Alabama. One of Matthews paternal great-grandfathers, Robert Smith Maitland, was a Scottish immigrant, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom; and one of Matthews maternal great-grandmothers, Adele Selma Pack, was German, born in Elberfeld, Westphalia, Prussia, German Empire. The surname McConaughey is also of Scottish origin.
Despite being a native Texan, he is a huge fan of the Washington Redskins NFL team.
Chosen by People Magazine as the Sexiest Man Alive in 2005.
Turned down a role in The Jackal .
Was considered for a role in Speed 2: Cruise Control .
His life motto is "Just keep living".
His brother, Michael McConaughey, aka Rooster McConaughey , had a son and named him Miller Lyte McConaughey.
He is well known as someone who almost never wears deodorant or cologne.
Has three bedrooms in his house and sleeps in all of them in turn.
Announced that he would be auctioning his 1971 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray on eBay, with all of the proceeds of the sale earmarked for donation Oprah Winfrey s Angel Network Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief funds.
Has worked with such well-known directors as Steven Spielberg , Robert Zemeckis , Richard Linklater and Jonathan Mostow.
Good friends with Lance Armstrong Jake Gyllenhaal , and Reese Witherspoon.
Named one of People magazines "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006.
He was considered for the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic . He then played Dirk Pitt (in Sahara ), who found the Titanic in another adventure.
He has traveled around Mali in western Africa.
In November 2007, he bought a 3,500 square foot, four bed - three bath home in Malibu for $10 million. He was shopping for a home in the area and spotted the property - which was not on the market - and made an offer to the residents for the property, which was accepted.
Afraid of revolving doors.
He was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame on March 10, 2006 in Austin, Texas. The other inductees were Kris Kristofferson , JoBeth Williams , Cybill Shepherd and Lyle Lovett.
His childhood hero was Evel Knievel , and he has said that he would like to star in a movie based on Knievels life.
He has said that the superhero he would most like to play is The Hulk, but he doubts that it will happen since both Edward Norton and Eric Bana have played him. When someone asked him if he would consider playing Captain America he said that he thinks "Captain America is an awesome name".
Is a huge fan of Willie Nelson.
Has his own line of clothing, called "j.k. livin", named for his lifes motto, "Just keep living", which is also the name of his charitable foundation.
Had a dog named "Mrs. Hud", named in appreciation of the movie Hud , which starred his favorite actor, Paul Newman.
He chews tobacco.
In 2006, he did an interview with Barbara Walters and was very happy with the way it was conducted. As a thank you, he gave Walters a foot-rub.
His favorite actor is Paul Newman.
Attended Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with his girlfriend, Camilla Alves (now Camila Alves ).
Has played Brazilian music for eight straight hours in the operating room to help his then girlfriend, Camila Alves (now wife) Camila Alves , give birth to their first child, Levi.
(July 2009) Traveled to France to support his good buddy, Lance Armstrong , during the 2009 Tour De France.
Good friends with singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson.
(March 26, 2011) Was in attendance at the wedding of Reese Witherspoon to Jim Toth.
His original career plan in college was to graduate with studies in pre-law, and then graduate law school, with the goal of becoming a criminal defense attorney, something hed end up portraying in A Time to Kill and The Lincoln Lawyer .
In Michael Connelly s novel "Nine Dragons", in which Micky Haller, the character McConaughey plays in The Lincoln Lawyer , makes an appearance, a suspect claims that McConaughey is his alibi.
His first two L.A. auditions were for Angels in the Outfield and Boys on the Side , in that order... both of which he landed, learning about being cast in Boys on the Side while physically on the set.
(December 26, 2011) Engaged to Camila Alves.
Is a huge fan of English rock band, The Cult. On March 17, 2012, at one of The Cults performances in Austin, Texas, he even went onstage and played bongo drums with them during two songs.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 38, when his girlfriend [now wife] Camila Alves gave birth to their son Levi Alves McConaughey on July 7, 2008.
Became a father for the 2nd time at age 40, when his girlfriend [now wife] Camila Alves gave birth to their daughter Vida Alves McConaughey on January 3, 2010.
Became a father for the 3rd time at age 43, when his wife Camila Alves gave birth to their son Livingston Alves McConaughey on December 28, 2012.
His mother Kay McConaughey appeared in Bernie .
He is from the same small Texas town, Uvalde (2010 census population of 15,751), from which the late, former three-term Governor of Texas, Dolph Briscoe (after whom the post office is named); singer/actress Dale Evans ; former Speaker of the US House of Representatives and former Vice President of the United States John Nance Garner ; Grammy winning Tejano group Los Palominos; and long time NFL safety Vann McElroy call(ed) home.
One of his first acting jobs was in a music video for country music star Trisha Yearwood s song with Don Henley , "Walkaway Joe".
He lost 47 pounds to play Ron Woodruff in his Oscar award winning role in Dallas Buyers Club .
(April 2014) One of Time magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World.
One of his paternal ancestors, Confederate Brigadier General Dandridge McRae, who fought to keep slavery in the South, was born in Baldwin County, Alabama. One of McConaugheys most famous early roles was portraying Roger Baldwin, one of the lawyers in Amistad , a real life historical person, who fought to free captive slaves, and later became Governor of Connecticut and a US Senator. The lives of McRae (1829-1899) and Baldwin (1793-1863) overlapped in time from October 1829 when McRae was born, until February 1863, when Baldwin died, which was during the US Civil War, which McRae was fighting in at the time.
The marriage between Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves was a private, Catholic Church ceremony, which took place in Austin, Texas, where they maintain a family residence for part of each year.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6931 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 17, 2014.
Has played characters named Joseph Cooper in both Killer Joe and Interstellar .
He has worked with 6 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Robert Zemeckis , Steven Spielberg , Ron Howard , William Friedkin , Steven Soderbergh , and Martin Scorsese.
Played a character named Abe Lincoln in Boys on the Side , plays a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln in The Lincoln Lawyer , and now is being endorsed by Lincoln cars and appears in most of its commercials.
Animal lover Matthew McConaughey has helped rescue many critters, including countless pets stranded after Hurricane Katrina.
Paternal grandson of Hugh (September 16, 1904-July 27, 1971), born in New Mexico, and Barbara (ne Maitland) McConaughey (December 31, 1907-September 2, 1991), born in Louisiana. Both of his grandparents died in Texas.
Paternal great grandson of Robert (1855-March 23, 1926), born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Julia (ne Westerling) Maitland (1866-April 24, 1949), born in Louisana. Both of his great grandparents died in Louisiana.
Paternal great grandson of James (May 24, 1867-September 1, 1922), born in Texas, and Frances (ne King) McConaughey (June 28, 1876-April 15, 1969), born in Iowa. Both his great grandparents died in Texas.
[on career philosophy] Be the lean horse for the long ride. I figure I,am in the third round of a 15 round fight.
Always good value with Wood-man. Classic, classic wild man.
(2011) I always loved to debate. I still do. I wanted to be a criminal,defense lawyer at one point. And I always seem to be playing them.
(2011, on dealing with the paparazzi) I was tired of getting pissed off.
[on playing AIDS-challenged Ron Woodroof in,Dallas Buyers Club (2013) ] Stay with the anarchy of this guy.
[on his astronaut role in Interstellar (2014) I prepared myself,for a bloodbath, and I came out of with only sweat. So I felt I got,away with something.
We dissect failure a lot more than we dissect success.
