Matthew McConaughey, a Uvalde native, is one of Texas’s most famous actors—“a gossip-blog punch line and a box office monster” as John Spong wrote in 2008. “His mom, Kay, was a kindergarten teacher, and his dad, Jim, had been drafted by the Green Bay Packers, [but ran] a gas station and an oil pipe yard, and died at 64 while having sex with Kay on a Monday morning.”
McConaughey was a graduate student in film directing at the University of Texas Austin when he walked into the Hyatt bar one summer Thursday and introduced himself to Don Phillips, a producer who—after a long night with McConaughey, which included getting booted out of the bar—would cast McConaughey in his breakout role in Dazed and Confused. As John Spong recounted in his 2003 oral history of the making of the movie, McConaughey’s father died five days into the shoot. Walking around on set with the director Richard Linklater, following his father’s funeral, McConaughey mused, “I can still have a relationship with my dad, but I’ve got to keep him alive. He’s got to just keep livin’” That comment inspired the dialogue that saved the movie and launched his career. On the final night of filming, as the cast was standing on the football field, desperately searching for the words that would make for the movie’s climax, McConaughey busted out with the now-famous line, “The older you get, the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’ man, l-i-v-i-n’”
That’s been McConaughey’s personal philosophy from the time Jason Cohen wrote our first profile of him in 1996 (the name of McConaughey’s production company? j.k. livin productions) to our most recent, 2008 profile of him and his new lifestyle brand, “called—you guessed it—j.k. livin.” McConaughey has appeared in many movies in that time, namely romantic comedies, such as The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch, and Fool’s Gold, as well as dramas and quirky films like The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie (co-written by Skip Hollandsworth and based on Hollandsworth’s 1998 Texas Monthly story “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas”), Killer Joe, and Magic Mike. His role in the Dallas Buyers Club as a bigoted man dying of AIDS earned him rave reviews and an Oscar for Best Actor in 2014.
All the while, we’ve lovingly tracked McConaughey’s triumphs (what a performance in Bernie!) as well as the moments he’s, let us say, bottomed out, such as when, in 2000, he was arrested for dancing “to the beat of his own bongos (and his own bong) while clad only in a bandanna bearing the logo of his beloved alma mater, the University of Texas.” Rarely has the title Bum Steer been more apt.
The Uvalde native took to the White House briefing room to talk about the lives of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting—and call for change.
GOP challengers have announced bids against Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, and Sid Miller, while a forlorn Democratic party casts its eyes on Matthew McConaughey.
Plus, Megan Thee Stallion talks to pets, Shea Serrano turns his childhood into a sitcom, and Eva Longoria brings Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to the big screen.
Plus: Texas transplants Elon Musk and Joe Rogan attract yet more controversy, Ted Cruz gets into it with ‘The Daily Show,’ and Selena Gomez explores her dark side.
Plus: Matthew McConaughey leads Greg Abbott in the polls, Hilary Duff will lead a ‘How I Met Your Mother’ spinoff, and Post Malone makes music history.
Plus: Demi Lovato has an unusually good week, Spoon and ‘Shameless’ come full circle, and viewers demand the FCC do something about Megan Thee Stallion.
Plus: Lizzo and Megan Thee Stallion headline Bonnaroo, the Austin Film Festival puts the pandemic behind it, and Jason Statham shoots Post Malone in the head.
Plus: Taylor Kitsch gets back in the TV game, Travis Scott manages to get people excited about magazines, and Megan Thee Stallion does her best ‘Mean Girls.’
Plus, Pedro Pascal and Renée Zellweger land plum TV roles, Sandra Bullock pairs up with Brad Pitt, and GameStop movies continue to be a bullish investment.
Plus: Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Love and Hip-Hop’ audition is eerily prophetic, Nick Jonas stars in ‘Jersey Boys,’ and Selena Gomez drops a new Spanish single.
Plus, Selena Gomez fans break ‘Saved by the Bell,’ Jim Parsons breaks the silence on his failed audition for ‘The Office,’ and McConaughey breaks out the clippers.
Melissa Maerz’s new book is a raucous reunion for the cast and crew of the film, whose depiction of the insecurities and thrills of teenage life have made it timeless.
Plus, Demi Lovato releases an anti-Trump song, Sandra Bullock gets back into rom-coms, and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy gets the documentary treatment.
During a live reading on Sunday night, many of the original actors brought the same chemistry that has made the film such a joy to rewatch for 27 years.
Plus, a Wes Anderson–inspired theater seat claims to protect against COVID, Dennis Quaid made a show about his cat, and Selena Gomez becomes an ice cream.
Plus, Megan Thee Stallion gives away $1 million, ‘Supernatural’ and the Alamo Drafthouse plot their returns, and Barack Obama puts Texas on his playlist.
