How Matthew McConaughey Turned Down Millions and Transformed His Career

Matthew McConaughey was at the height of his fame, when he up and left Hollywood for his Texas ranch. At the time, he was just jumping from one romantic comedy to another, and he knew that there was so much more he could bring to the Hollywood table.

Matthew McConaughey On the Value of Saying “No”

McConaughey is one of those rare stars who have not only enjoyed successful Hollywood careers, but a long and meaningful one as well.

In his latest chat with tennis pro Nick Kyrgios for the athlete’s Wednesday, Nov. 20 episode of Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios, he talked about taking his career into his own hands.

“Look, man, the devil’s in the infinite yeses, not the nos,” McConaughey, 55, began. “No, it’s just as important, if not more important. Especially if you have some level of success and access. No becomes more important than yes.”

“I mean, we all look around and see we’ve overleveraged our life with yeses and go, ‘Geez, oh, man, I’m making C minuses and all that s— in my life because I said yes to too many things.’ I have many times in my life where I’m going through autopilot.”

After starring in rom-com after rom-com, including ‘The Wedding Planner,’ ‘How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days,’ ‘ Failure to Launch,’ ‘Fool’s Gold,’ and ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,’ he knew he had to draw a line somewhere. “That was my lane, and I liked that lane. That lane paid well and it was working.

But the lane was… I was so strong in that lane that anything outside of that lane, dramas and stuff that I wanted to do, were like, ‘No, no, no, no, no McConaughey.’ Hollywood said ‘No, no, no, no, you should stay there, stay there.’ “

However, he’d grown tired of starring in the same old movies and told executives so. When they weren’t ready to listen to him, he opted to leave the industry and move his family to the Texas ranch. There, he made a pact with his wife not to return unless he was offered a different role.

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Matthew McConaughey On How He Changed Hollywood’s Mind

If you want to know how good he made on his pact, think passing up a movie where he was offered $14.5m to star in.

Yes, it wasn’t exactly easy, as he confessed that there were two “wobbly” years before they welcomed their first child Levi, now 16. “But I was still like, ‘Man’s gotta work.’ Making chimes and working in the garden wasn’t cutting it.”

Despite this, when the big money offer to star in an unnamed big budget comedy came, he turned it down. This forced Hollywood execs to consider his proposal.

“I think that was the one that was probably what was seen as the most rebellious move in Hollywood by me, because it really sent the signal, ‘He ain’t f—ing bluffing,’ ” McConaughey said. “I think that’s what made Hollywood go, ‘You know what? He’s now a new novel idea. He’s a new bright idea.’ “

This led him to start appearing in movies that aren’t rom-coms like ‘The Dark Tower,’ ‘Interstellar,’ and the one that snagged him an Oscar win for Best Actor, ‘Dallas Buyers Club.’

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Matthew McConaughey right now. Come back here often for all Matthew McConaughey spoilers, news, and updates.

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