Academy Award winning actor Matthew McConaughey remains one of the biggest names in all of Hollywood.
But he reached his breaking point and decided he wanted to throw in the towel.
And Matthew McConaughey has finally spilled the beans on the shocking reason he quit acting.
McConaughey fears being typecast
Actor Matthew McConaughey caught his big break in the 1993 coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused playing the role of David Wooderson, a college-age kid who hangs out with high schoolers while dispensing valuable advice and life perspective.
He became known for his gritty performances and for his iconic “alright, alright, alright” line from the film.
In the early 2000s, McConaughey also became a sex symbol and starred in a string of romantic comedies, known as rom-coms in industry terminology, that brought him fame and fortune.
It seemed everything he touched performed well at the box office.
The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Failure to Launch were all successful rom-coms, thanks in large part to McConaughey.
But then, from 2009 to 2011, McConaughey suddenly left acting.
And his fans were stunned.
McConaughey recently told actor Glen Powell in a piece for Interview Magazine that he simply grew tired of the lane Hollywood stuck him in.
“I’ve usually zigged when I felt like Hollywood wanted me to zag,” McConaughey said.
He added that while he enjoyed the rom-coms and that the movies were financially successful, he said he wanted more out of his career.
“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,” McConaughey added.
“But I wanted to try some other stuff,” McConaughey continued.
McConaughey takes a break
McConaughey told Powell that he became so fed up with how Hollywood had started to view him that he even thought about getting a different job entirely.
“Dude, it was scary. I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation,” McConaughey revealed.
McConaughey said he told his wife Camila Alves that he was even thinking of teaching high school.
“I honestly thought, ‘I stepped out of Hollywood. I got out of my lane.’ The lane Hollywood said I should stay in,” McConaughey said.
McConaughey was worried if he didn’t want to accept the roles in the type of movies Hollywood knew he was bankable in, then Hollywood wouldn’t want him.
“And Hollywood’s like, ‘Well, f*** you, dude. You should have stayed in your lane. Later,” McConaughey exclaimed.
McConaughey’s renaissance
And McConaughey ended up proving all the doubters wrong.
He returned to acting in 2014 with the critically acclaimed Dallas Buyer’s Club which won him an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as a rodeo rider who learns he has AIDS.
McConaughey also starred in the critically acclaimed first season of HBO’s True Detective where he earned a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film.
And McConaughey was also featured in Martin Scorsese’s wildly popular film The Wolf of Wall Street.
Now McConaughey is negotiating to star in Tyler Sheridan’s 2024, which picks up where Yellowstone will leave off when it finally finishes its final season later this year.
And none of his late-career success would have been possible if McConaughey hadn’t been willing to bet on himself and walk away from Hollywood.