Matthew McConaughey Reveals Jay Leno’s Life-Changing Advice

Published: September 14, 2023

Matthew McConaughey Reveals Jay Leno’s Life-Changing Advice

By Movieguide® Contributor

Matthew McConaughey recently recalled a conversation with Jay Leno that changed his life and shaped his public appearance.

The conversation occurred decades ago while McConaughey was waiting to join Leno on his talk show. The legendary host came into the green room to offer the actor words of wisdom before he went on stage.

“[Leno] comes into the greenroom and goes, ‘You nervous?’ I go, ‘Yeah,’” McConaughey told TODAY.com. “He goes, ‘It’s easy. You ready for the recipe on how to handle this?’”

Leno’s advice was “just want to be here,” and that simple counsel has fueled McConaughey ever since.

“I remind myself of that all the time, ‘Wherever you are, just want to be here.’ If you want to be where you are, you’re kind of like, ‘Well great.’ It makes it easy,” McConaughey said.

He now seeks out the nerves he felt when waiting for his moment on Leno’s show. He believes they are an indicator that he is staying true to himself.

“If I don’t get those butterflies, then I get concerned. Maybe I’m being complacent, maybe I’m being arrogant, maybe I’m trying to oversee the situation like, ‘I’m above this. I got this.’ Then I won’t be present,” he explained.

While it was not a problem back when he first became a celebrity, McConaughey now sees how his emphasis on staying present is even more important in the age of social media.

He focuses on teaching that quality to his children, not allowing his son Levi to join social media until recently when he turned 15.

“Let’s talk about what you wanna tell. What’s your story? Because what happens a lot of times with young people and social media is they wake up in the morning and the first thing on their mind is, ‘What will be a good post?’ Instead of, ‘What do I want to do today,’” McConaughey said, recalling a conversation with his son.

Movieguide® previously reported:

With their fame trickling down to their families, many celebrities have had to decide if their kids should be on social media or if they should be shielded from the public.

Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila recently allowed their son to join social media for his 15th birthday. Although Instagram allows users to join as early as 13, they wanted to keep him off the site until he was secure in his identity.

“We’ve been preparing for this, talking about this for three years now,” McConaughey and his wife shared. “All his friends have had it for a long time, we’ve been holding out. [Levi] knows who he is. He’s knows what he’s going at. And [we] think he can handle it.”

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