By Kayla DeKraker
Matthew McConaughey landed his first acting role in DAZED AND CONFUSED in a surprising way.
“I was in the right bar at the right time,” the actor told Bear Grylls while the pair hiked through the Norwegian mountains. “I knew the bartender, and he said there’s a producer down at the end of the bar…in town producing a film. I went down and introduced myself. He says his name is Don Phillips.”
Phillips asked, “‘Have you ever done any acting?’ He goes, ‘You want to come to this address tomorrow morning at 9:30, I got a script for you. There’s a role in there. You might be right for the part.’ Next thing I know, I’m in this 70 Chevelle car getting a lavalier mic put on.”
The actor gave himself a pep talk, helping himself connect to his character.
“I’m sitting there going, ‘Who’s my man?… What am I about?’” he recalled. “I said, ‘Waterson.’ I said, ‘What do I love?’ I said, ‘I love my car.’ Said, ‘Bam! I’m in my 70 Chevelle.’ Said, ‘I love rock and roll.’…I said three, ‘I love to get high.'”
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He continued, “Next thing I hear is action. I drop it and drive. And I think to myself, I got three of my favorite things already. ‘Alright, alright, alright.’ And that was the three affirmations for the three things I did that. First three words I ever said on film.”
That phrase, ‘Alright, alright, alright,’ is now universally known as McConaughey’s catch phrase.
He said that Phillips advised him to not seek out an agent and just enjoy himself.
“We got tickets to Amsterdam the next day. Me, Rory Cochrane and Cole Houser, my new friends from DAZED AND CONFUSED,” he said. “Rode through Europe for a month, came back, wasn’t thinking about getting an agent. And about five days after I was back, he goes, ‘Tomorrow morning, I got us a meeting. William Morris Agency.’ He goes, ‘You’re ready?’”
McConaughey added, “I’ve definitely had some grace shine down on me with some things I look back that only make sense now.”
While McConaughey continues to act, he left Hollywood for a simpler life in Texas with his family.
“I called the agent, I said, ‘Let the town know, it’s not going to happen,'” he said previously. “I went to Texas. Camila was pregnant, on the ranch, it’s quiet down there. You don’t know how long it’s going to be dry, how long you’re going to not go with work. This could go on, but this is non-negotiable. We’re not going back.”
He’s also committed to his faith.
“I want to keep my faith as strong as possible, because when my faith is strong … I have more courage to take risks in my life and follow through on them,” the Academy Award-winning actor said last year.
It certainly seems like McConaughey was meant to be an actor.
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