Matthew McConaughey's Mom Wants to Be a Movie Star Too
“Every single role, she wanted to be in the movie,” McConaughey said.
— -- Matthew McConaughey may be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but if his mom gets her way, he might have to share the spotlight.
“Every single role, she wanted to be in the movie,” McConaughey said in a recent appearance on ABC’s “Popcorn With Peter Travers.”
“She’d come to visit me on sets. And she’d always say, ‘Where’s the guy in charge?’ She would always corner him,” he joked.
McConaughey said she even pitched herself several times to movie executives.
“Listen to this great idea, [a] remake of 'The Graduate.' I’m Anne Bancroft. Matthew’s the Dustin Hoffman part,” he said while mimicking his mom's movie pitch.
“The Graduate,” of course, is that classic film about a bored housewife who seduces a college student.
McConaughey said movie honchos have always scoffed at the idea. But his mother would say, "Oh, I’ve seen it before. It’s not that big of a deal. It’ll still work."
“She’s still pitching that. No one’s made it yet,” he said, laughing.
McConaughey’s acting career is still going strong without his mom as a co-star.
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This week he’s back on the big screen in the new movie “Gold.” But be warned, the Hollywood heartthrob looks a lot different this time around, having gained 47 pounds for the role.
“That was just cheeseburgers and beer,” McConaughey, 47, told Peter Travers. “It’s one of the fun things we get to do. When you get a character, you’re always looking for a mental, physical and spiritual commitment. And they don’t all allow commitments like I got to have with Kenny Wells, (his character in the film), but there was a lot to be committed to on all three of those phases with him.”
The “Gold” storyline was based on true-life events. McConaughey’s character finds himself down on his luck. He has a dream that he believes will lead him to find gold in India and change his life.
“He’s a guy, an American archetype, like millions of people who didn’t get a ticket to the front row of the American dream,” McConaughey said. “And they’re going to have to hustle, create their way, sneak in the back door, down the chimney or some side door into the American dream. And this is a story of a guy who actually got it that way.”
Travers pointed out that McConaughey has hit his own personal jackpot. Years ago he was hired to say three lines in the movie “Days and Confused.” Those three lines turned into three weeks of work. That movie propelled McConaughey to stardom.
McConaughey said it’s his Texas roots that have inspired who he is as a person.
“There’s a certain thing that goes about Texans, which is go out, use your passport. Travel around the world. Go venture out there. Go into new frontiers,” he said.
He loved the area so much, he decided Austin, Texas, would be best for his family, instead of say, Los Angeles, the mecca for Hollywood celebs.
"My mother is there, the rest of my family is there, part of the reason for going back there was having kids."
McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves are parents to three children -- sons Levi and Livingston, and daughter Vida.
The Oscar winner moved his family to Austin about eight years ago. His children get to see their grandmother almost every weekend.
"That's important to the kids, important to Camila and I, important to my mom," he said.
He also gets to see the rest of his family, including his brothers.
"I just feel at home there," he added. "A mile feels like a mile, 60 minutes feels like an hour and a day feels like 24 hours. A relationship with time is important to me."
Be sure to watch the video above to see McConaughey’s full interview with Peter Travers.
“Gold” hits theaters everywhere today.
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