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| Real Name: Matthew David McConaughey | ||||
| Birthday: 11/04/1969 | ||||
| Place of Birth: Uvalde, Texas | ||||
| Education: University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, film, 1993 | ||||
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Matthew McConaughey Biography and Filmography: Often compared to Paul Newman for his pleasant demeanor, blond good looks and muscular presence, Matthew McConaughey moved swiftly from featured to leading actor. His early break came after a wild night of drinking in Austin, Texas with new friend and casting agent Don Phillips led to a role in "Dazed and Confused" (1993), and three other films including "My Boyfriend's Back" (1993), "Angels in the Outfield" 1994, and "Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1995) starring Renee Zellweger, before his smash hit performance as Drew Barrymore's policeman boyfriend in "Boys on the Side" (1995) about a girl Jane, who is a night club singer, and out of work. Her friend is a quirky real estate agent looking for a ride-share to accompany her to California. McConaughey then landed a role in John Sayles' film "Lone Star" (1996), appearing in flashbacks as the father of a sheriff (Chris Cooper) investigating a death.
The Hollywood public relations machine went into overdrive as soon as the film began shooting, reaching a breaking point in the summer of 1996 when McConaughey landed on the cover of Vanity Fair, the cream of the crop of a tabloid media campaign plastering him across print and television media. McConaughey even managed to earn good reviews for his performance in the commercial smash hit. Matthew had already finished a supporting role as a truck driver in "Larger Than Life" (1996), starring Bill Murray, before the release of "A Time to Kill". Based on the media hype, he soon became the "next big thing", with studios making huge offers for his talent. Warner Bros. had signed the actor to a three-picture deal in 1995 and announced he would act opposite Jodie Foster in Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi production "Contact" (1997) about Dr. Ellie Arroway, who after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of intelligent aliens, who send plans for a mysterious machine. His miscasting as an 18th-century New England lawyer in the solemn "Amistad" (1997) with Morgan Freeman further bruised his "golden boy" image. Disadvantaged by bad hair and gigantic glasses that down-played one of his assets—his looks, McConaughey failed to seize the opportunities of his role. A more up to date, period piece, "The Newton Boys" (1998), reunited him with Ethan Hawke and showed off his talents, allowing his unusual speech tones back in the role of Willis Newton, the brainpower of the 20th-century real-life Texas bank robbers.
Having co-produced and co-starred in Sandra Bullock's short "Making Sandwiches" (1997), McConaughey produced his own movie, "The Rebel" (1998), before starring in Ron Howard's "EDtv" (1999), about video store clerk Ed, who agrees to have his life filmed by a camera crew for a television network. The film enabled Matthew to draw on his own brush with the instant fame that followed the release of "A Time to Kill.” He then joined in the courageous rescue of a top-secret decoding device from a German U-boat in the World War II suspense spy story "U-571" (2000) and in 2002 was cast as the love interest of Jennifer Lopez in "The Wedding Planner" (2002) and won acclaim from fantasy fans as a dragon fighter in the amazingly fresh "Reign of Fire" (2002). In 2003, Matthew was the targeted subject of Kate Hudson's character in the fashionable romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." (2003) the funny story of Benjamin Barry, who is an advertising executive and ladies' man who, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. McConaughey then took the role of master voyager Dirk Pitt in "Sahara" (2005), the Paramount Pictures version of Clive Cussler's best-selling book, and interest in the film was fueled by the off-screen romance between McConaughey and his leading lady, Penelope Cruz. In “Two For the Money” (2005) with Rene Russo, he played Brandon Lane, a former college basketball star with a talent for predicting the outcomes of sporting events. Taken under his wing by sports mentor (think bookie) Walter Abraham (Al Pacino) after a career-ending injury, Brandon starts on a high-flying life in sports betting until he begins losing his touch and engages his guru in a high-stakes game of con versus con. In 2005 People magazine named McConaughey its 20th annual "Sexiest Man Alive".
McConaughey's next feature, “We Are Marshall” (2006), saw the actor play Marshall University football coach Jack Lengyel, a young impostor brought in to rebuild the school’s team after a disastrous plane crash in 1970 left the entire squad, coaching staff and a large group of supporters dead. After taking a couple of years off from film and movie making, Matthew resurfaced in 2008 with the romantic comedy "Fool's Gold" (2008) with Kate Hudson, about when a new clue to the whereabouts of a lost treasure rekindles a married couple's sense of adventure, and their estranged romance. Next was the war based action film "Tropic Thunder" (2008) with Jack Black and Ben Stiller, about how through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. Matthew ended the year with another comedy titled "Surfer Dude" (2008), a wave twisting tale of a soul searching surfer experiencing an existential crisis. Another romantic comedy followed with "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" (2009) with Jennifer Garner, about a bachelor who is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends at his younger brother's wedding. McConaughey ended the year with the auto racing action crime drama "Hammer Down" (2009) where in an attempt to get back into the racing world, a former NASCAR driver takes the shifty responsibility as wheel man on a major heist. Family
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