The 46-year-old appeared in several rom-coms during the early part of his career, including The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Kate Hudson, and Failure to Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker.
He later went on to win critical acclaim for his performance in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club. MCConaughey played cowboy Ron Woodroof, who was diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980s, and nabbed a series of awards for his efforts, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.
The father-of-three seemingly concentrated on more dramatic roles after his award-winning turn, going on to star in Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster Interstellar in 2014.
His latest role is as American Civil War fighter Newton Knight in Free State of Jones, and MCConaughey said he was now looking forward to making a return to comedy in roles which he jokingly called “Saturday characters”.
“Obviously Free State of Jones isn’t a Saturday character. It’s a Monday morning, go to work character,” he told the Press Association. “But I’m open to that in the future. I’m looking for some comedy right now.”
The actor revealed he was initially reluctant to star in a civil war film, as he has never been “turned on by” that time in American history.
However, it was the theme of racial inequality in the movie that changed his mind.
“Other films that have been set in the Civil War I’ve seen, I didn’t love them, they didn’t stick with me. I didn’t find current relevance in them,” Matthew shared. “This one came along and I told the director, ‘It’s not a time in American history I’m really turned on by, but let me have a look’.
“I read it and I was completely entertained by the script and I was like, ‘Boy, this lives as fiction but it’s non-fiction. It’s true’. That was the cherry on top. There are a lot of issues in this story that are front and centre today. No doubt,” he added.
