Matthew McConaughey has revealed the reason behind his decision to move his family out of Hollywood, despite being at the peak of his acting career.
The Oscar winner, 55, moved home to Texas more than a decade ago with his wife, Camila Alves. The pair haven't looked back since.
More than 10 years later, the couple still resides in Austin with their sons Levi, 15, and Livingston, 11, and their daughter Vida, 14.
When asked why, McConaughey said that staying true to himself allowed his career to last longer.
“Look man, the devil is in the infinite yeses, not the noes,” McConaughey said on the “Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios” radio show.
“No, it's just as important, if not more important. Especially if you have a certain level of success and reach. “No gets more important than yes.”
“I mean we all look around and see that we've over-leveraged our lives with yeses and we're like, 'Oh my God, man, I'm putting C's and all that in my life because I've said yes to too many things. “I've been on autopilot many times in my life,” he added.
Before moving to the Lone Star State, McConaughey and Elvis — who married in 2012 — lived in Malibu, California.
In that time, the actor had become a household name after starring in a string of successful romantic comedies, including “How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days,” “The Wedding Planner,” “Failure to Launch,” and “Fool’s Gold.” “. “.
“That was my path, and I loved that path,” he said of his previous romantic works. “He pushed that path well and it was working. But the path was… I was so strong in that path that anything outside of that path, the drama and things that I wanted to do, it was like, 'No, no, no, no, no McConaughey.' “Hollywood said, ‘No, no, no, no, you have to stay there, stay there.’”
McConaughey said he knew he wanted to expand his acting portfolio beyond romantic comedies, something Hollywood initially wasn't on board with.
The decision prompted him to move his family to Texas. Once there, he told his wife that he would not return to California unless he was “offered the roles I want to do.”
“Luckily, Camilla fell pregnant with our first child. So there was a goal coming up to look forward to,” he told the tennis star. “But I was still like, 'A man's got to work.'” Making bells and working in the garden wasn't glamorous.
Indeed, McConaughey refused to sign on the dotted line unless it was a passion project for him.
In fact, he turned down a $15 million role and instead signed on for another film weeks later that offered him a more tempting script.
“I think that was what I considered probably the most rebellious move in Hollywood by me,” he recalls, “because it really sent the signal, ‘He’s not f**king fooling around.’”
“I think that's what made Hollywood go, 'You know what?' It is now the idea for a new novel. “It’s a bright new idea.”
Soon after, McConaughey signed on to star in Dallas Buyers Club, a role that earned him an Academy Award and a modest $200,000 bonus.
Since then, McConaughey has starred in blockbuster films such as Interstellar, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Mud.
