Matthew McConaughey biography
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Matthew McConaughey was raised in Longview, Texas, the son of Mary Kathleen McCabe, a substitute teacher and James Donald McConaughey, a former American football player for the Green Bay Packers. He excelled in sports as a high school student and was voted "Most Handsome" by his senior class. After graduating, McConaughey spent some time working in Australia before returning to the United States to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in film production. Having met producer and casting director Don Phillips, who introduced him to director Richard Linklater, McConaughey was cast in ‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993) straight out of university.

After ‘Dazed and Confused’, he took on a number of supporting roles in films of varying quality, until being given his first leading role in Joel Schumacher's adaptation of John Grisham's ‘A Time to Kill’ (1996), apparently beating out [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1027:0/Brad_Pitt.htm]Brad Pitt[/urlnew][/b], [b][urlnew=/biography_home/68:0/Val_Kilmer.htm]Val Kilmer[/urlnew][/b] and Woody Harrelson to secure the role. Although the film met with mixed reviews, Matthew escaped the critical mauling relatively unscathed.

His appearance on the cover of the August 1996 issue of Vanity Fair secured his status as 'The Next Big Thing', but he failed to capitalise upon this momentum, a fact which has characterised his career path. A string of small, largely unseen films followed before he landed a starring role as a property lawyer in ‘Amistad’ (1997), [b][urlnew=/biography_home/2064:0/Steven_Spielberg.htm]Steven Spielberg's[/urlnew][/b] slave epic. Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Contact’ (1997) followed, before he again collaborated with Linklater in 1998 on ‘The Newton Boys’ (1998) alongside [b][urlnew=/biography_home/98:273/ETHAN_HAWKE.htm]Ethan Hawke[/urlnew][/b].

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By the time he was cast in the lead role of [b][urlnew=/biography_home/581:0/Ron_Howard.htm]Ron Howard's [/urlnew][/b]‘EdTV’ (1999), he had receded somewhat from the public eye, with many critics noting that, despite his talent and good looks, he seemed to have trouble finding roles that would do him justice. The film itself was a commercial and critical success, correcting some of the downward turns his career path had taken. However, he did not help his public image as reports of eccentric private behaviour, including drugs allegations and arrest for naked bongo playing caused eyebrows to be raised.

The taut World War II thriller ‘U-571’ (2000) was his next major project, followed by the lightweight romantic comedy ‘The Wedding Planner’ (2001) opposite [b][urlnew=/biography_home/728:0/Jennifer_Lynn_Lopez.htm]Jennifer Lopez[/urlnew][/b], which returned him to public prominence. Subsequent performances have met with more critical than commercial success, for example ‘Thirteen Conversations About One Thing’ (2001) and as a serial killer in Bill Paxton’s ‘Frailty’ (2001). But he has not shied away from the familiar role as lead hunk, co-starring alongside Kate Hudson in the romantic comedy ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ (2003).

He then took on a challenging role in the small budget ‘Tiptoes’ (2003), playing a normal sized fireman in a family of dwarfs opposite Gary Oldman and Kate Beckinsale. The movie was largely praised for its courage in confronting a difficult and sensitive issue. This was followed by the big-budget ‘Sahara’ (2005) alongside Steve Zahn, [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1327:0/William_H_Macy.htm]William H. Macy[/urlnew] [/b]and [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1896:0/Penelope_Cruz_.htm]Penelope Cruz[/urlnew][/b], where he played an intrepid adventurer seeking a lost ship’s cargo.

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McConaughey then played protégé to [b][urlnew=/biography_home/50:25/Al_Pacino.htm]Al Pacino’s[/urlnew][/b] mentor figure in ‘Two For The Money’ (2006), a film about sports gambling. This was a largely unchallenging role, the slick pace and script carried by Pacino in an altogether familiar role [see ‘Devil’s Advocate’ (1997) and ‘Any Given Sunday’ (1999)] and McConaughey as a fast talking, fast thinking betting prodigy. Another romantic comedy role opposite [b][urlnew=/biography_home/268:0/Sarah_Jessica_Parker.htm]Sarah Jessica Parker[/urlnew][/b] kept him in the spotlight in ‘Failure to Launch’ (2006).

‘We Are Marshall’ (2006) was an inspirational, against-the-odds movie about the rebuilding of a university football team which lost almost all its members to a plane crash in 1970. McConaughey played a new coach who had to battle to keep the football team programme going. Teaming up with big names once more ([b][urlnew=/biography_home/513:0/Donald_Sutherland.htm]Donald Sutherland[/urlnew][/b], Kate Hudson, Ray Winstone), McConaughey echoed his role in ‘Sahara’ with ‘Fool’s Gold’ (2006), a high spirited adventure film with a romantic twist.

2008 saw McConaughey play a desperado personal agent to [b][urlnew=/biography_home/10:0/Ben_Stiller.htm]Ben Stiller’s[/urlnew][/b] mega film star in the hilarious post-modern spoof movie, [b][urlnew=/entertainment_news/240/_Tropic_Thunder_Film_Review.htm]‘Tropic Thunder’[/urlnew] [/b](2008). Although this was a supporting role, his character provided extra humour to an already magnificent comedy, with his screen time with [b][urlnew=/biography_home/824:0/Tom_Cruise.htm]Tom Cruise[/urlnew][/b] especially side-splitting. ‘Surfer, Dude’ (2008) gave McConaughey more hunk cred as evident in the title, bringing to mind his friend [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1685:0/Matt_Damon.htm]Matt Damon’s [/urlnew][/b]impression of a shirtless McConaughey on David Letterman. However, ‘Surfer, Dude’ brought up more socially relevant issues than many people gave it credit for.

[b]Juan Hann Ng[/b]
Matthew McConaughey biography



In October 1999 McConaughey was arrested for resisting arrest: the police arrived at his home in Austin, Texas, following a neighbour’s complaint, to find him in the company of Cole Hauser (actor and co-star on ‘Dazed and Confused’), stark naked and playing the bongos. He resisted arrest when they spotted illegal drugs on the premises.

McConaughey’s foundation is called JK Livin Foundation, which stands for “Just Keep Livin’”, its main purpose being to help young people live fuller lives. It is also a record label and a production company.

McConaughey rescued animals and pets that were stranded when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. He also rescued a cat which was about to be set alight by kids in Sherman Oaks, California in 2006. Conversely, in 2008, he became the spokesman for National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and took part in its advertising campaign, ‘Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner’.

He has a baby boy (Levi Alves McConaughey) with Brazilian model Camila Alves.

Matthew McConaughey biography



2008 - Surfer, Dude
2008 - Tropic Thunder
2008 - Fool’s Gold
2006 - We Are Marshall
2006 - Failure to Launch
2005 - Two for the Money
2005 - Sahara
2003 - Tiptoes
2003 - How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
2002 - Reign of Fire
2001 - Frailty
2001 - Thirteen Conversations About One Thing
2001 - Wedding Planner, The
2000 - U-571
1999 - Edtv
1998 - Rebel, The
1998 - Making Sandwiches
1998 - Newton Boys, The
1997 - Amistad
1997 - Contact
1997 - Scorpion Spring
1996 - Glory Daze
1996 - Larger Than Life
1996 - Time to Kill, A
1996 - Lone Star
1995 - Judgement
1995 - Submission
1995 - Boys on the Side
1994 - Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The
1994 - Angels in the Outfield
1993 - Dazed and Confused
1993 - My Boyfriend's Back

Matthew McConaughey biography