The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Matthew McConaughey Talks Spirituality, Cynicism, Ditching Romcoms For Dramas, Poems, Prayers + More

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

Today on The Breakfast Club, Matthew McConaughey Talks Spirituality, Cynicism, Ditching Romcoms For Dramas, Poems, Prayers. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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we like to give up-and-coming talent a shot. And today we have a man who is entering this industry and trying his hand at poetry. He goes by the name of Matthew. Is that, was that Macana? Maconagie. McConagie. Oh, that's actually.

Maconahey. Micahe. Rhymes with what would Madonna say. How are you, man? I'm good, man. Good morning. He's got a new book out, poems and prayers available now.

Most folks know you for movies. They know you for speeches. I don't know if they necessarily know you for poetry. What made you want to put your thoughts in the poems and prayers instead of another book? Yeah. So, in the last few years, I started finding myself getting a little bit cynical. I mean, doubt was creeping in on me, on my own faith, belief in myself, and, you know, mankind. I'm looking at the news. I'm looking at leadership. And I'm going like, huh, all right. Seems a jackpot goes to the winner, no matter if they lie, cheating steel to get it.

It seems a lot of us are kicking the game when it field going. Someone's moving the goalpost. And, you know, are we ready to say, okay, that's how it is? And I think this doubt crept in on me, I started to say, well, maybe that's just how it is. That scared me. And then thankfully, it then pissed me all. And I said, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not ready to wave the white flag here and concede and say that's the way things are going.

So since I wasn't finding belief in reality and evidence, I said, you know what, I'm going to go to dreams and ideals, poems, prayers, and say, you know, let's not forget that beginner's mind, McConaughey, and let's grab a hold of those ideals and try to make those a reality. And because, you know, that cynicism, I'd always swore to myself, you know, you born, you're innocent, then you're naive, then you're skeptical because you learn some things and you're discerning and make some decisions. The next step, though, seems to be when we go over the cliff, to being cynical. Doubting people, not giving the benefit of the doubt. You start doing that enough. You know what happens? You look in the mirror. You do the same damn thing with yourself.

And so it's an early death. And so that's what I found myself getting. So I went to poems and prayers. You said something earlier. You said, you know, people think that they're getting the jackpot here, right? But you got a poem in the book called The other day I wrote God a letter. And I feel like that's what you have to do. You have to return back to source because the jackpot probably isn't here.

but we consider it a jackpot it's immortal one exactly it's it's it's a yeah it's a it's a it's a it's a it's something that we that we bow down to and we're sold it every day as being the chalice that's right which i think we've got to think longer further project further believe in god or not i think we got to do that you know because i'm talking about belief for me i'm working on my belief in god but i think if anybody believes in their better self, their kids, or if you don't know what to believe in, like, say, ask yourself who or what you die for. Start there. That's a good spot. Probably what you ought to be living more for. You know, double down on that bet. And, but, you know, as a believer myself in God, I'm, I've got a hunch and I'm playing for,

you know, trying to cross an immortal, immortal finish line more than just the ones that are, you can win right here. That's right. Well, is this book, a passion project for you? Because you actually have a movie coming out on Friday, but you're instead promoting a book. Was this a passion project? Yeah, I mean, look, like I said, I wrote it because I was tired of looking at the evidence

and I didn't feel like writing another book like Green Lights, but this would be a sister of Green Lights. Yeah, I wrote it. It came out, all of a sudden it was at the same time. Hey, that's going to come out. You've got a movie coming out, Lost Bus, the same time. why don't we parlay that situation, hit the road, talk about poems and prayers, do some shows,

which I did my first show last night in Brooklyn, and at the same time, talk about the Lost Bus. Did people snap after you did your poem in Brooklyn? I don't think I had any snap. Oh, I didn't get that. What did they do when you finished? Were they just quiet? They stood and applauded.

It was cool. It was the first show to get it on its feet. And yeah, I'm doing a little tour with this. And we did Brooklyn last night. And I go out, and I give like an opening, 25-minute sermon, set in the table. Then I invite a musical guest out. And they're playing scores underneath about 12 of the poems.

Last night, John Mon Jovi came out. Going to Nashville today and Lucas Nelson. I don't like that little light flex you did. That's just nothing. Right. Yeah. It's amazing. John Montevichel came out, right?

We jammed. Going to Nashville. Tonight, Lucas Nelson, a friend of mine's coming out. go to Tulsa from there, Zach Bryan's coming out. Go to L.A., John Mayer is coming out. Oh, John Mayer. And then I returned to Austin.

Oh, John Mayer. And my hometown and John Batiste has come with. Up and comers. Right. And they all said, yeah. They all said, yeah. And all I said was, can I get a couple of chords

under the reeds, kind of underscore? And we'll see how they go. But last night, John and Joe, he did a hell a lot more than put up a couple of chords down. He wrote some songs. Wow. Yeah, it was neat.

I read somewhere. tell me this is true at one point in time because you're big on God now and your faith you talk a lot about it but you didn't believe in a God at one point I've had my my years of not believing I've had a couple of them that went on for probably two years where I was like nope self reliance is it I'm responsible for me I'm not relying on any more faith forgiveness and all that shit I've got to get I've got it's about me I got to be self-reliant and I look back I'm glad I did it. And they were very healthy for me. And when I came back to God, I heard God applaud and going, thank you for having your hands on the wheel. Thank you for having the courage to go. It is on you because I got too many people relying on fate alone.

And it is a combination. And I don't think that, you know, we self-reliance and faith usually are talked about. We can't, they butt heads. And I don't, my hunch is they don't, is that it's both. You know, it's free will and it's fate. And while, you know, we do something, is it already. written divinely, maybe, but do we have something to do with it and do we need to have our hands on the wheel with the choices we make? And they are up to us? I believe so as well.

But did you have faith and you lost it and got it back? Or you never had it and then... No, had it. Strong. But then also, you know, questioning that. You know, you grow up, you know, it becomes a, sometimes it's a ritual. You know, there's many sermons from my preacher on Sunday that I don't listen to what he said, but the ritual of getting up on Sunday morning going to church. you know being reminded and being humbled that you're at most number two today and then prayers before meals that ritual you know you get older you start to question well okay what did that mean and i want it to be more than just ingrained in me like like getting married i didn't want to ask camilla to get married because it's the thing to do i want to wait until i felt like okay no that's a

covenant i want to i want to make with god and camilla and we want to go forward and i want to take that adventure forward so the same thing with faith i've questioned it along the way and i love love philosophy, and I love science. You know what I mean? And I'm not sure with the Bible what to do with the burning bush, but there's a whole lot of ethics and ways to live and approach life and signpost in it that whether you're agnostic, whether you believe or not, there's a lot of great things to find in that book, as well as the Quran and many other books. So I've questioned my faith along the way in the existence of God. What brought you back? Was it like a Mel Gibson's and signs moment.

Okay. So one time was quite literal. It was the lightning bolt in the middle of a blue sky summer that I'm like, what cloud did that come from? Where it shook my floor, where Mother Nature God or whatever reminded me, okay, just letting you know, glad you think it's all on you. I'm reminding you that he's a little speck right now. You know.

The actual lightning bolt? Actual. Yeah, I was out in the middle of the desert. I had a microclimate cloud come over this little cabin I was in the desert. This was on Mother's Day. It was 82 degrees at noon. And at 2 p.m., this cloud came over. It rained, it hailed, it snowed on me.

In a 100-yard circumference around the cabin, I was at white snow, two inches deep, and lightning bolts. What? You felt the snow in room. life like you were awake and you felt snow like this happened this is real no that and i was completely sober i'm not saying no i was you no no no no i was having my first cup of coffee watching this go down and um uh i then looked up and as i said walked to the edge it was only around the cabin i was at i went into town nobody i was like and it snowed where it wasn't no it did the kid snow what do you talk about and i'd take a pictures and like when's that from it's like that's today

And it was like, this is impossible. That couldn't have happened. I was like, it happened on top of me. And that was right at the time when I went out, and again, the lightning bolt at the time when I'm saying, I don't believe. Bam. Wow.

And I went, oh, excuse me, maybe I need to open myself up here. I hear you. I hear you, you know? And he was saying, just checking in on you, big boy, you thought you, you got it going. I appreciate it, but don't get too big for your brushes or pop. Wow. So I've had it that way.

I've had it other times we're just, look, I mean, you have a you have your first child your wife you have his first child you want to talk about belief look at the birth

yeah and sit there I'm gonna hear and well cry or hearing your doggone kids in the other room laughing together you see God and your woman

you see God and your wife like wow right what the how did you do talk about miracles that's right how did you do that how did that how do you have that ability

And then, you know, there's all that people, I don't know if there's a better word for it. There's enough coincidences that happen where you're like, you know what, man. It was a mystery going forward, but now looking back, there's a science that adds up that I did not have anything to do with that choice. That happened, and I got grace enough times where I'm like, okay, I got nothing to do with that, man. That wasn't my choice and some things lined up in ways. that were more than just coincidence to me. And I've had times where I've taken trips, you know, and off on my own, 25 days of my own,

and around day 14 had certain revelations where, you know, when that truth hits you at 4 a.m. solitude, it hits you soft as a butterfly, but with a lightning bolt as well. And you've been reminded of some things, you know, remember that truth, even when you go back into the masses in the busy world, do not let go of that truth.

you know um so yeah is that's what inspired truth slave yeah she'll come and visit okay you know what I mean if you if you want more than just a flaying with her she'll be with she'll stay in your bed all night every day you know what I mean he's talking about truth y'all not okay yes yeah yeah yeah she'll be there with you forever and then hang out with you your conscience and everything else and she'll be a great friend but she's tough she's tough to live with because she'll call you on your shit yes right you know what I mean we got to be willing to look true for and deal with that. Like, you know, it's one thing that I was, I was having,

I said this yesterday, it's like, you know, integrity to me is being honest with yourself. Honesty and truth is when you, is with other people, but actually having integrity is when you can be honest with yourself. Yeah. That's hard for some folks. Yeah.

It's been hard for me in my life sometimes. I mean, you know, I talk about how, how I pray in here, I go through a rollerdecks of my mind and, you know, people I love and care about. And I, until I find a shot, an image of them when they're most of them, themselves, you know, not the happiest or saddest and emotional, just when they're kind of graceful going on in, they're light shining.

I go through that. The last person I get to before I end my prayers, I've got to go through a roller decks myself when I'm that way. And that can take a mighty long time to find that image. And I've had many times where I'm looking in the mirror and I'm seeing another, you know, and I've got to sit there and hold my gaze until I can call myself on my bullshit, you know, and put the facade down. And that can take a while to find that for me.

But then I'm also happy to say, I've had many days where I can look at myself in the eye and go, yes, sir. You know. Yeah, speaking of that, how vulnerable did you have to be not only write this book, but to share, share it. Yeah, vulnerable is a funny word. I hadn't worked out my relationship with definition of vulnerability yet. It doesn't feel, I've been told that, though. I hear what you're saying, because I mean, it's saying the same question. And I'm going, I don't know, is it really?

I don't feel what's so vulnerable about it because I believe it. So don't feel like I'm I'm exposing anything myself. If anything, I've had people go, wow, that's ballsy of you to go talk about belief and grace and forgiveness in God and the way you're doing it in your position. I've heard that, but I don't feel like I'm being brave. I don't feel like I'm being like, oh my gosh, I'm really exposing myself. I mean, I think I'm talking a language that I know it's true to me and I'm hearing that it's true for others as well.

Now, you'll know, Hollywood isn't the first one to talk about belief in religion or in God. You know what I mean? But I've had wonderful times out there with people that are believers that may not want to admit it publicly. Prayed with a bunch of them. I've got a lot of agnostic friends who do not believe,

but we sit there and say our graces and thank you. So, I mean, I don't know. Someone's asked me that, well, aren't you kind of afraid to do this since you're in Hollywood to go talk about God? I mean, isn't that kind of a taboo? No, I mean, it never was before for me. And I'm sure as heck it isn't now. So I'm on my own spiritual journey trying to,

this book, writing this book was therapy for me. I'm in the middle of it. Going out last night and putting it on its feet and showing sharing with people and engaging back and forth. I'm finding more connection with myself as well. I'm sure. You know? Because I got a strength of my own belief, I want to.

Are you delivering people? like your friends that you're talking about that are in Hollywood that you might not have strong belief or whatever, do you find yourself kind of bringing them to what you believe? No. No, I'm not, I'm never, I'm not, that's not where I'm putting my sweat equity into conversion.

I want to sit there and go, I do think there's a lot of people that say, oh, I'm just spiritual. And I think that's halfway that. I'm like, actually, I'm listening to what you're talking about. You're very religious. actually the the the religion I love going back to the root definitions of words religion comes from the Latin root legare which means to bind together and re means

again so that's unity now I hear a lot of people talking about unity is what I'm for I'm not religious but I'm for unity I'm spiritual I'm like that's actually you that's a definition of religion so what I think what I try to talk to people about and remind them is that I don't think religion is a problem it's what man did with it along the way and where it excluded so many and where it became a business and where the snake salesman came out and have you got reason to be skeptical of some people preaching some stuff and what they're selling but don't throw religion out religion i think it's all i think life's religious i think it's all religious i do but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater throw religion out

just because mankind bastardized it along the way i think i believe in being spiritual more than religious I feel like people can get caught up in religion and they just do all the practices or even get caught up and going to a place of worship every week but you're really not tapped into the spirit you're just doing things that you feel like you should do because that's what the religion calls for

but don't you think the ritual the like mantras monks, they repeat the same thing six times a day and these Psalms they get to they get ingrained don't you think the ritual of that if it brings you back to spirit right if you're just saying like I'm a I'm going to church on Sunday just because just to make yourself feel better.

It's like going to the gym and not really working out. You're taking a bunch of selfies. Checking at the mirror. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Well, look, I mean, sometimes it's the effort of just going, I don't have the connection, but I'm trying. And I think there's a great Benedictine monk Thomas Mariton that said, God, I believe that trying to please you.

pleases you. And that, sometimes I've got to give it to myself, is a little amnesty to go, hey, man, you're trying. Me going through the doubts that I've got to look at that instead of going, oh, what the hell McConaughey? Going, no, but it's part of the process, man. Keep trying, man. You know what going to, you know, you don't know.

I don't know. I'm not, I'm not, maybe I got, I've had to do. Maybe I got a lot further to go. I mean, if you're going to have full faith, seems you're going to have full faith that you've got to have full surrender I ain't doing that not yet I've got some more humility

to learn on that way if that's where I can go but I'm not there yet to fully surrender is it Hollywood keeping you from doing that because you know people side eye you and you ever feel any pushback for having like you know putting well first of all putting out something

so spiritual and just I don't I don't if it's there look I don't know maybe I've been out there 35 years I've got, I understand, the community knows me. I know them. If I do, they're, they're maybe saying it behind the back,

but they ain't sent it to me. And they're usually much, they're much more open, I think, than they've been stereotyped to be. I don't, there's not a push back. Now, like I said, a lot of people may not go out and say, I'm a belief, but they might want to keep that to themselves. But they're not saying, dude, what are you doing?

It's not like I'm going, well, we're not going to, you know, let's not hire McConaughey, let's not hang out with him because um because also but i mean i think they're very very clear and i think i've been clear with who i am i'm not i'm not sitting there so excluding those people from the table if they do not believe i'm not that's not that's not my way you know so i've never said to them well well if you're not grateful we can't have dinner together. No, it's not what I'm saying. No means to say that, nor do I want to. I'm saying, come

all off to the table. And like I said, if you're not a believer in God, fine. So if you believe in science, go. If you're not a tyrant or nihilist or you're not trying to harm people, whatever it is you believe in. Double down on more of that. Science, philosophy, whatever it is.

What are, like, you talked about earlier reflection and looking in the mirror and I guess doing that all writing this book, what has been like the hardest time that you had to face yourself? Hardest time I had to face myself. Well, the first one that comes with mine, probably be, I don't know, 15 years ago, I was doing rom-coms, and I was a go-to guy in rom-com, and I enjoyed them.

But in my real life, I'd met Camilla fall in love with her. pregnant with our first child. You've got kids, you know, that's a real vital time. Life's, life's, you know. And as a man, I don't think there's any time a man's more masculine than with the birth of the first child or the heart, head, body, and loins are more aligned than than ever. So my life was very vital.

My work felt like, oh, I can get up and go do that tomorrow morning. It's easy. Nothing wrong with that, but I was looking to. for my work to challenge, boy, could that be as maybe as exciting and as vital as my life is? And mind you, I did look at the mirror and say, be damn glad McConaughey that you feel like your life is more vital than your work, not the other way around. But can we find some work that can be as vital as my life. So I wanted to do dramas. That's where the work I wanted to do. Hollywood says, no, sir, stay in your lane. I said, I'll take a pay cut. They said, no, don't

care. Stay in your lane. So I said, all right, I can't do what I want to do. I'm going to stop doing what I've been doing. So went to Texas with Camilla. He's pregnant. We said, stepping out, told my agent, no more rom-com, da-da-da-da-da. I said, okay. And I remember Camilla and I was saying,

you don't know how long you're going to go without work. This can be a drive spell for a while. You're like, where the money yet, man? I might have just wrote myself a one-way ticket out of Hollywood. Right? Right. Right? Right. We got real money. What's happening? We got bills to pay. Right? We got real spirit.

I hear you. And I'm going, I hear you. I hear you. Plus, I got accomplished stuff from my own significance, and now what am I going to do? I ain't going to go down and, you know, start making chimes for a living, you know. So I'm out of the amount of rom-coms. I'm not on the beach anymore, shirtless, which kind of looked like I was in a rom-com in real life as well, right? And I got nothing coming in.

My age and it's like, man, I hadn't heard your name in five months, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, so now we get into 12 months. We're a year no work. I'm starting to think maybe I did write myself a one-way ticket out of Hollywood. Maybe I need to look for a new vocation. Maybe I'm going to go back to law school, become a lawyer. Maybe I become a teacher.

18 months go by. Check this out. I think you'll know because I don't know what I'm talking about when I say this. This rom-com action script comes in. $8 million offer. I read it. Hey, everybody. This is Matt Rogers.

And Bowen-Yang. And you're never going to guess who's our guest on Los Cultureistas. It is Bradley Jackson, Elle Woods, Tracy Flick herself. Reese Witherspoon. It must go in a girl's trip. I have to have a tequila. We must. The Q rating.

Q rating. When they run diagnostic on you guys. I'd be scared. I'll run the Q rating. No on the Q rating on us. My resiliency score is down to adequate because we were on a red eye. My resiliency score. My grit.

I got to get my grit score up. Now don't think that you're going to come on. Los Culturistas, the podcast, and we're not going to at least bring up Big Little Lie Season 3. Whoever said orange is the new pink. We seriously disturbs. Listen to Las Culturistas on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jorge Ramos.

And I'm Paola Ramos. Together we're launching The Moment, a new podcast about what it means to live through a time as uncertain as this one. We sit down with politicians. I would be the first immigrant mayor in generations, but 40% of New Yorkers were born outside of this country. Artists and activists, I mean, do you ever feel demoralized? I might personally lose hope. This individual might lose the faith, but there's an institution that doesn't lose faith. And that's what I believe in.

To bring you death and analysis from a unique Latino perspective. There's not a single day that Paola and I don't call or text each other, sharing news and thoughts about what's happening in. in the country. This new podcast will be a way to make that ongoing intergenerational conversation public. Listen to The Moment with Jorge Ramos and Paula Ramos as part of

the MyCultura podcast network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin, so, like, it's not...

What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club. I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a tape recorder statement. The person being interviewed is Krista Gail Pike. This is in regards to the death of a colonel. She just started going off on Eve and I hit her. I just hit her and hit her and hit her and hit her.

On a cold January day in 1995, 18-year-old Krista Pike killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemer in the woods of Knoxville, Tennessee. Since her conviction, Krista has been sitting on death row. The state has asked for an execution date for Krista. We let people languish in prison for decades, raising questions about who we consider fundamentally unrestorable. How does someone prove that they deserve to live?

We are starting the recording now. Please state your first and last name. Krista Pike. Listen to Unrestorable Season 2, Proof of Life, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, thank you. They come back. 10 million dollar offer i said no thank you they come back 12 million dollar offer i said no thank you

they come back 14.5 million dollar offer i said let me read that thing again so i open it up same script as a million dollar offer but it was better oh oh oh i can see myself making this work did your wife know you was turning it down did you know yeah she knew yeah she knew now my brothers thought i was bugging my brothers were like what is your major malfunctioned little brother. But I had made the decision. And Camille and I made the decision that it was non-negotiable. I wasn't going back. Anyway, I read it again. It was better, but I ultimately said no thing. And I think that sent a signal after 8B wants to be out of Hollywood. That, oh, oh, McConaughey ain't bluffing. You know what I mean? I don't

know what he's doing, but he's playing offense. He's turned down 14-5. That's not a receding move to do that. He's up to something. So you parlay that, declining, 14-5, along with 18 months, which turns to 20 months out of Hollywood, out of rom-coms, not in the theater, not in your living room. All of a sudden, well, you know who'd be a novel, kind of interesting, new, good idea for this drama, Gilder Joe, or Mudd or Lincoln lawyer, the Aspires Club, True Detective, what kind of hay? Yeah.

But only because I unbranded, because I was gone. I had to go get anonymous, you know what I mean? Yeah, what type of prayers were you saying during that time? Because that's a lot of money. No, I needed to, trust me, that the old bottle on the shelf started looking better earlier and earlier in the day too. You know, I lost my work. Man's got to work for significance and I didn't have it.

You got depressed? No, I didn't get depressed. I didn't get depressed because, thankfully, I got a newborn. And the only thing I ever wanted to be, know I've ever wanted to be in life, is father. father so anytime i focused on our son levi as a newborn and a new life brought in that really kept my compass grounded it was looked long days you know without achieving some of my own stuff but i had that as an anchor man that's such an incredible story because i you know when i think about

you going from rom-com to an oscar winning dramatic actor i always wondered what was the pivot or how did you know it was time to pivot and just to know it was this an intentional decision to want to be taking serious was that's that's powerful that was it and I had to step out and it was it was 20 months total that I was out and trust me like I said I did think that I just I think I wrote myself a one-way ticket out of Hollywood what did that teach you about the power of intention that there's certain decisions like that decision to do that that came that hit me at 4 a.m. you know that the fact that I wasn't feeling alive in my work the fact that it was paling in comparison to how wonderfully dramatic my life was

that was clear to me that that's what i needed to make a change and i it was a non-negotiable so once again once those truths hit as we were talking about earlier yeah and you go i know that's true for me in my soul but now i'm going to re-engage with the masses and slowly that onion can get peeled and you start to go, well, I can't, maybe I can, you know, I didn't. It's very clear. It's like, no, this is, I'm not going back on the idea. If that, if nothing would have come at 20 months, I was not going to go back and do what I had done. I'd be doing something different. If nothing had come since then, I would be doing something different in my life. I was not going to go back. So the idea that, of not flinching once you made a decision,

and you can out endure a situation. And you can also seem to find after a while, like after for kind of 15 months of nothing from going out of my mind all of a sudden kind of start to get a little honor and charge and filled up with like the endurance of it it's almost like okay the longer this goes i got to hunt the reward on the other side getting bigger with every day i'm going through this pennant's drought i got a feeling that there's a bigger reward over there i'm in this for the long game yeah and you know thankfully say it all came back around i didn't have anything to do that besides being out of Hollywood, but the offers came in for the work I wanted to do. But making a decision, being clear on it, and then saying, as I know this and projecting ahead,

it's like COVID, all right? I think we did, my family did pretty good in COVID. And one of the things I think was when it came, we sat down, I told the kids, plan on this being this way for 10 years. What? Damn. So think it's going to be longer. And then when it's over in four years, But you're like, oh, shit, I was rolling. I could have handled more. Yeah. Right? So I was thinking it could be worse than it was going to be.

I was thinking I may be in a drought and not get any offers for five years. And hell, I'm going to have to find something else to do. Well, luckily it comes in two years and work came. You know, that's Psalm 4610, be still and know that I am God. Like sometimes you just got to be still. And hold it. That's right. And hold it.

Sometimes you change by staying the same and the world does this. And it comes right back to the baseline. you're on going oh you're brand new and you're like no I've been right here that's right I just held you know what I mean yeah so when you transitioned into drama yeah Matthew McConaughey have any did any of your roles alter your perception of reality did any of my roles alter my perception of reality um well I will say this I kind of flip the script. Remember earlier I was saying my life was so vital? My work was paling. The work got so vital that all of a sudden I was like I had a little moment, you know, I was like, oh, my life's not

as vital as my work. Oh, fiction. Playing these other characters that are written, I'm kind of getting off to them more than I'm getting off being me in the documentary that is my life. That's scared me a little bit too, which is why I started writing and why I wrote green light to when I'm writing points of press. I tried to have been challenging myself for the last six years going, all right, you know, you go, you go act. You're doing someone else's script, written by somebody else, directed by someone else, lens in a camera by someone else, and edited by someone else. That's four filters from your raw expression. So I was like, let's get rid of some filters here. And who are you in life, McConaughey, in this documentary where action has been called the

day you were born and cuts gonna be called the day you leave this life what are you doing live in this live show where hands of time are recording it and that's what i've been the last six years kind of challenging myself so i go to a book now there is one filter with the book because it's a written word yeah the performance right there's no filter that's direct to the audience so it was one filter but i wanted to see if the written word and i could tell some personal stories that could be entertaining that people could see themselves in and go and then go look in me and go you did that. Good job, McConaughey, or, you know,

here's where you could have made it even more true or better. And I, and I wanted needing that. And so that's, that's sort of a phase I'm in now, where I'm still doing work, made Lost Bus, made another one called Rivals of M's Eye. And I tell you, I went back to, you know, it's been six years since it's not ever acted in a roll. One, forgot how much I enjoyed it.

And two, forgot how much it feels like a vacation. Because it's a singular focus. And I've been compartmentalized in more the last six years. She has taken on more different things, checking out leadership roles, writing books, family, etc. But the singular focus of going to act and going, I'm obsessed and all I, I revere this craft enough to be obsessed with my man, this character, and every idle moment I've got, I've got work I can do to tell more of the truth on this character. And I give myself three months to do that. That sort of blinders. And I think for my wife that when I go out the door every morning,

She's got the kid and says, don't look over your shoulder, go conquer. I got this shit handle. Big, big help. But I'm able to just singly focus when I go acting. I missed it. It felt like a vacation. Why do you know the Yellowstone spinoff happened? So we talked about it.

Taylor and I, it just never came to. It never saw a script. I wanted to see, you know, what the idea. The idea was good. It just never got to script form. So Taylor and I continue to talk about what might be the best way to work together. So you were, you were attached to it. Like, it was actually going to happen?

I remember that was the wrong. Oh, I mean, I was, it came out, I'm always curious about this, because it came out in my attachment, which I would never sign anything. It wasn't any real attachment. It was just Taylor and I creatively talking about it. It could be a good idea, right? But it was interesting because it came out in the news, in the trades,

about the same time, Coster's leaving. So I don't know if it was publicly put out there to sort of counterbalance. We got the exit of our guy, Coster, who we've all known. So let's make sure it looks like we've got somebody else coming in that we can be excited about. So there was never a contract or anything. It was just he and I talking about it. And what about this Barbie sequel?

Are you really going to be in the Barbie sequel? Man, I don't know. Someone came up with that too. I hear people just, I think America Ferrer just like who's in Lost Bus with me. I think she mentioned it on some talk show going, you could be the King of Kins. And someone goes, King of Kins. I can put a font to that. Hey, let's put a picture up.

All of a sudden, I'm on the show me yesterday. I'm on some show, and I'm there in a white suit to King, Kins. That's as real as that is. Would you do it? I don't know. It sounds like it could be fun. It'd be good for the kids. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. And then with the Lost Bus, I saw that you, when your son, because he's in a movie with you? Yeah, Levi. Yeah, Levi, you asked for his last name to be taken off when you submitted his casting video. Yeah. What was the dad decision to do that? Right. Yeah.

So I pitched every, you know, story of the script that I, a movie I'm going to do the family and this one has a son and my son comes to me and goes hey is your son cash yet I said no he goes how old is it in the script I said about your age says can I can I read for it and I'm kind of ignored him I want to I want to see some hustles he's not he's not just coming at me like this is a whim right well he kept badger me and kept badger me and finally I go okay all right so first fall let's sit down let me talk to you about this acting gig this ain't you don't show up with attitude there ain't no modeling gig this is a rodeo man you got go with soul and no bullshit in your bones all right so just set the table of this is a serious

craft and then we talked and for a couple days and then he said i've got a scene i'd love to shoot i pulled up my phone shot him i was like okay he holds a camera all right he can behave honestly in front of the camera he can even improvise did well i send that to the casting director i said i think this might be good enough for a callback she writes back i think it might be good enough send to the director so okay great can you do me a favor and pull his like last name because you know you're forgetting epitism just what it what if he got the job with the last name you're at a bar right yeah or he's got it thinking in his mind did part of the reason i got that because my last name that that that ain't a good for him

that's why we didn't name him matthew so it would be matthew junior yeah you know what i mean although levi is another name for matthew we got away with that really wow really yeah i didn't I never heard of anybody say Matthew Jeans? Levi. That's what I never heard. Hey, post-blown, get on that, will you? Yeah. You got your prayers in print, right?

Yeah. How often do your prayers go on answer? And do you still trust God in those seasons that they do? Is there any such thing as an unanswered prayer? Meaning, if you don't get what you're praying for, and that it's still an answer sometime? you know somebody gave you what you need not what you want it

what you need what you want right that's and and and and you know because it's funny sometimes what I hear people praying for because you got blue collar prayers and you got white collar prayers and you hear someone praying to you know

win that Oscar or get that yacht you're going man I hang on but I think God's got better stuff to do man you're talking about it was white collar prayers That ain't, that ain't working. We've got to talk about what do you need, not what you want. Now, I do think my definition of heaven on earth is where what you want is what you need and what you need is what you want, where what you actually need is what you desire,

or what you desire, what you're salacious for, what you lust for is actually what you need is actually worth loving. Hard place to get to, but boy, when that's when in the pocket, I think that's when we're in the honey hole right there. You know, some people will say, what could you still be praying for? Because you have the Oscar, you have the fame, you have the money. Those are, yeah, I never prayed for any of those either. Okay.

No way. I'd feel like a fraud praying for that. Again, I think that would be a white-collar prayer. Where God's going, I got, I got real stuff to try and handle. You know what I mean? I pray for the health of my family. I pray for myself to be the type of father that can maintain. a healthy family unit.

I pray for to have the patience to sometimes be a what I would call a better husband. I pray for the discernment to listen and try to make the choices

that can feed me and my family and life going forward to make decisions that will pay me back for the long term, for the long haul, and for the decisions

that can those decisions that can pay me back also where are those also the ones that can pay the most people back? That's the kind of things I pray for. You know, and then I, mom's 93, man, you know. She's awesome and she's rolling. And from the neck up, she's younger than that. We'll see how long the body holds up.

But I pray for, and I, you know, I don't even know if she feels like I need to pray for her. She's, she's great. She's good, man. When she's ready to go, she goes tomorrow, she's good. You know what I mean? She's nothing sentimental about her. She can talk about death like right here. in front of you like you're talking about drinking water that's not the thing with older people

margroom mother's the same way they get they it's like they it's like you're revolutionary when you're young right and then you get in your thirties and 40s and you start to go oh some of that stuff mom and dad taught me was right so I'm gonna get a little more responsible and then you get about 60 and whoop they slip back they don't give a shit about I mean hurting anybody's feel oh they'll get over it and you're like like my mom the stuff she'll lie about I went to her she's still lying in 93 oh hell yeah she's like she's like okay you I swear to it. She started telling, she's done some crazy stuff, man.

She had this boyfriend up my dad died. And he was living at the house and stuff, and they've been dating for about a year and a half. And they lived out this country club out in southwest Houston. And my brother Pat's playing golf one day, and these four older gentlemen on the other fairway, call him over, go, hey, Pat, congratulations, man, and Pat's like, about what?

And he goes, what about your mom? CJ, the marriage. He's like, what? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we all heard about it. He goes home, Mom, what'd you do? What are you talking about? No, I just said you got, man, excuse me, that. Oh, that.

What? Oh, wow. What'd you do, Mom? Well, the monthly bills at the club are 400 if you're only partner's births, or 250 if you're married. I know, that's right. Come on, we dragged her down to the country club, made her get on the mic and tell everyone I was bullshit

and I was lying, da-da. So she'd do stuff like that, right? And I'm like, Mom, you taught us? Oh, yeah, okay. You know, not to lie, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I go, do you have anything, Mom? No one forgives themselves quicker than you. Do you have anything at the night

but do you roll the decks through your mind about things you may regret, things you want to change? She goes, oh, honey, I do. Every night, I got a list. It's probably 25 things long. I got regrets, things I'd change. Oh, things that I just, I'm sorry for me. She goes, but you know,

You know, the thing is, when I wake up in the morning, I forgot them all. That's her. And she's not a shallow woman at all, but boy, does she move on from, and she doesn't really judge people. That's another thing about her. She has zero stress, zero stress. Anyway, that's my mom. I didn't realize they told us to wrap five minutes ago. So my last question, if you could go back and talk to the version of yourself that first said,

all right, all right, all right. Yeah. What would you tell that person? Days confused, 1990. First scene I was ever in a movie. Okay. And I'll tell you where it's from. I wasn't even supposed to work that night.

I'd never acted before. I'd never been on screen. All right? So all of a sudden, I'm in this car getting a lavalier mic put on in. The scene is I'm going to try to pick up this red-headed intellectual who's played by Marissa Rubisi, and she's got nerds in the car, and I'm Wooderson who's hanging out at school, man. And I'm older, but I still like the high school girl. So pull up and pick her up.

Nothing's written. I'm going to improvise this. Well, as I'm getting the mic put on me, I'm starting to get a little nervous. Make sure you're acting with that line, because they'll take that out of context and put that on the internet. That's Wooderson. And everything I'm about to say, you got to watch, remember us actors talking the first person from our characters.

There's plenty of times, plenty of times through the day you could record what I'm saying and put me in jail. And I'm going, no, I'm speaking through the PLB. of someone else right right all right so wooderson was a guy who was hanging out the high schools he was out and that's he has the line there's a great line they're written right they're like man you got to you got to cut that out worse and he says no that's what I love about those high school girls man I get older they stay the same age you know that was whaterson why would you have to you have to double down we got it we got it we got it right I bring up that line because

people know that was water so I'm sitting there nervous about this first scene starting to get, you know, a little anxious, and I'm like, who's my man? Who's Wooderson? It's going through my head. Who's my guy? And I go, well, Wooderson, man, loves it, love my car. I said, boom, I'm in 70 Shevel. There's one. I said, Wooderson loves rock and roll. I said, boom, I got Ted Nugent Strangle holding the eight track. There's two. I said, Wooderson loves to get high. I said, ooh, Slater's riding shotgun. He's always got a duby rolled up.

All of a sudden, I hear action. As I hear action, I look up, put it in drive, and as I pull out to go do the fourth thing that Wooderson likes, he likes to Ladies, I say the three things, an affirmation for the three things that I do have. All right, all right, all right. Those were three affirmations, and that actually was based off of a live Doors concert, and Jim Morrison barks at the crowd, all right, all right, all right, all right. And I had listened to it, heard that four months earlier,

and for whatever reason, my version of it three times came out that night. So what would you tell that version of yourself? Hey, you may think this is going to be a hobby where you've got to have a fun weekend acting in Austin, Texas one summer in your life. Well, guess what, buddy? This is going to be more than a hobby. It's going to be a career, and you're going to end up loving it.

Wow. Matthew McConaughey. I'm sorry. Real quick, did you improv your role in, oh, my God, the Leonardo, the Gulf Wall Street? Was that improv, all of that? Well, not all. All of it, no, but quite a bit was.

I mean, you know, people ask about the chest beating, oh, huh, huh, all right, that's something I'll do before scenes and I've done many times before. It's a relaxation technique. You know, get out of head, it's getting the rhythm. Yes. Let's get the blood flowing and it's good because the whole crew's going, what was he doing?

What's the weirdo? And it's nice to put myself in an underdog position so I can fight out of it, right? And then I was doing that before the scene, yell action, I'd stop, we do the scene. we do the scene five times we got it moving on great nailed it moving on all of a sudden Leonardo raises his hand and says hey Marty hang on a second he's over he goes what's that thing you're doing before I told him when I just told you he goes what if you did that in the scene

next take is what you see on film I love it I love it wow it's Matthew McConaughey poems and prayers good great conversation with you brother absolutely poems and prayers is out right now man thank you for coming brother I appreciate yes sir and the lost bus is in theaters It's Friday. Yeah. Yep. It's the Breakfast Club. Hold up.

Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club. You're all finished or y'all done? Hey, everybody. This is Matt Rogers. And Bowen-Yang. And you're never going to guess who's our guest on Lost Cultureistas.

It is Elle Woods' Tracy Flick herself. Reese Witherspoon. Maurice. It must go in a girl's trip. I have to have a tequila. We must. Oh. Whoever said orange is the new pink.

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