Matthew McConaughey filmography

A photograph of McConaughey attending the Golden Kamera awards in 2014
McConaughey at the 2014 Goldene Kamera Awards

Matthew McConaughey is an American actor who made his breakthrough by starring in the Richard Linklater-directed coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused in 1993.[1][2] His first lead role was in the 1996 film adaptation of the John Grisham novel A Time to Kill.[3] The following year, McConaughey played the lawyer Roger Sherman Baldwin opposite Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins in the Steven Spielberg-directed historical drama Amistad, and also starred opposite Jodie Foster in the Robert Zemeckis-directed science fiction drama Contact. In 1998, he appeared in the Linklater-directed comedy-drama The Newton Boys. During the 2000s, McConaughey was typecast as a romantic comedy lead in the films The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Failure to Launch (2006), and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009).[2][4]

In the early 2010s, McConaughey became better known for his dramatic roles. This reinvention was cited in the media as the "McConaissance" and started when he played Mickey Haller in the adaptation of the Michael Connelly novel of the same name The Lincoln Lawyer, and reunited with Linklater on the black comedy Bernie (both 2011).[2][4][5] In the same year he played the title role in the Southern Gothic crime film Killer Joe, for which he received the Saturn Award for Best Actor.[6] The following year he starred in the coming-of-age drama Mud (2012),[7] and also played a supporting role in the Steven Soderbergh-directed comedy drama Magic Mike (2012).[8][9]

McConaughey's next role was as Ron Woodroof in the 2013 biographical drama Dallas Buyers Club. His performance garnered him the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor (Drama), and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.[10][11] He also appeared in the Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013. In 2014, McConaughey played detective Rust Cohle in the television crime drama series True Detective and starred in the Christopher Nolan-directed science fiction film Interstellar. The former earned McConaughey a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.[12][13]

In 2015, McConaughey starred alongside Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts in the Gus Van Sant-directed film The Sea of Trees.[14]A year later, he starred in the Gary Ross-directed historical war film, Free State of Jones, in which he appeared as Newton Knight, a Mississippi farmer.[15]He was nominated for a Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor.[16]In the same year, he also starred in the Stephen Gaghan-directed crime adventure Gold, and won the Hollywood Ensemble Award at the 20th Hollywood Film Awards[17][18]and a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actor.[19]In 2019, McConaughey co-starred with Anne Hathaway in the neo-noir Thriller Serenity directed by Steven Knight, this film earned him a nomination for Worst Actor at the 40th Golden Raspberry Awards.[20][21]

A photograph of McConaughey at the March 2005 premiere of his film, Sahara in Austin, Texas
McConaughey at the March 2005 premiere of his film, Sahara in Austin, Texas
A photograph of McConaughey attending the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011
McConaughey attending the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011
Matthew McConaughey in 2018
  1. ^ "Matthew McConaughey Biography". Fyi. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Matthew McConaughey on 'Dallas Buyers Club': 'Damn Right This Is a Great Time in My Career'". Variety. February 18, 2014. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Dockterman, Eliana (February 25, 2014). "Charting the McConaissance: The Evolution of Matthew McConaughey". Time. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  5. ^ Coyle, Jake (February 21, 2014). "Charting the McConaissance, film by film". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  6. ^ Cohen, David (June 26, 2013). "Saturn Awards: 'Avengers,' 'Breaking Bad' lead sci-fi-fantasy-horror pack". Variety. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  7. ^ French, Philip (May 12, 2013). "Mud – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  8. ^ Robey, Tim (July 5, 2012). "Magic Mike, review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  9. ^ Rooney, David (June 24, 2012). "Magic Mike: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  10. ^ "Oscars: Matthew McConaughey Wins Best Actor (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. March 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  11. ^ "Golden Globe Awards Winners". Variety. January 12, 2014. Archived from the original on March 20, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  12. ^ "2014 Emmy Awards: 'Game of Thrones,' 'Fargo' Lead Nominations". Variety. July 10, 2014. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  13. ^ "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Breaking Bad,' 'OITNB,' 'Fargo,' 'Normal Heart' Among Top Winners". Variety. June 19, 2014. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  14. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (August 25, 2016). "Review: Love, Loss and Spiritual Torment in 'The Sea of Trees'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  15. ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Widmer, Richard Grant,William. "The True Story of the 'Free State of Jones'". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved April 27, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Women Film Critics Circle Nominations: "Hidden Figures," "13th," & More". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  17. ^ Staff, T. H. R. (November 6, 2016). "Hollywood Film Awards: Leonardo DiCaprio, Eddie Murphy, Justin Timberlake Celebrate Their Wins". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  18. ^ McNary, Dave (October 26, 2016). "Natalie Portman, Janelle Monae, 'Gold' Cast to be Honored at Hollywood Film Awards". Variety. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  19. ^ Montgomery, Daniel (June 29, 2017). "Saturn Awards 2017: Full list of winners led by 'Rogue One,' 'Outlander,' 'The Walking Dead'". GoldDerby. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  20. ^ "'Cats' nearly sweeps 2020 Razzie Awards, John Travolta, Hilary Duff also winners(?)". EW.com. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  21. ^ Truitt, Brian. "Meow-ch! Musical 'Cats' gets clawed by the Razzies alongside 'Rambo' and 'Madea'". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 27, 2024.