Matthew McConaughey Moved to Texas to Stop Being the ‘Rom-Com Dude’

Matthew McConaughey is opening up about why he left Hollywood for Texas.

The Oscar winner, 55, earned critical acclaim for his roles in True Detective and The Dallas Buyers Club, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was best known as a leading man in rom-com movies such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Wedding Planner and Failure to Launch.

In a new interview on the “Good Trouble With Nick Kyrgios” podcast, which is set to drop in full Wednesday, November 20, McConaughey recalled how he found himself on “autopilot” in his career and said, “No, full stop, no.”

“When I was rolling in the rom-coms, and I was the rom-com dude … that was my lane and I liked that lane, that lane paid well, and it was working,” the actor said. “I was so strong in that lane that anything outside of that lane, dramas and stuff that I wanted to do, [they] were like, no, no, no, no, no. Hollywood said, ‘No, no, no, no, you should stay there, stay there.’”

That’s when McConaughey knew he had to make a change.

“Since I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, I stopped doing what I was doing and moved down to the ranch in Texas. I made a pact with my wife and said, ‘I’m not going back to work unless I get offered roles I want to do,’” he added, referring to his wife, Camila Alves.

The Interstellar star said there were some “wobbly” moments in what ended up being two years away from Hollywood. At one point, he even turned down a multimillion-dollar action movie because he wanted to pursue more serious work.

“It was a good action comedy. It came with an $8 million offer. I said, ‘No, thank you,’” he said, though he did not specify which film he was approached to star in. “They came back with a $10 million offer. I said, ‘No, thank you.’ They came back with a $12 million offer. I said, ‘No, thank you.’ They came back with a $14.5 million offer. I said, ‘Let me read that again.’”

Ultimately, McConaughey said no, which he believes turned his fortunes around in Hollywood.

“I think that was seen as the most rebellious move in Hollywood by me because it sent a signal that he ain’t f—ing bluffing. And when you got someone who’s not bluffing, there’s something attractive about that,” he 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.’”

Subsequently, McConaughey was offered roles in Killer Joe, Mud, True Detective and Dallas Buyers Club, cementing himself as a serious dramatic actor.

“When those offers came, I was salivating, man. And I just bit on and went back to back to back and worked as much as I could and loved it and felt every bit of it,” he said.