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]

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

Film

Year Title Role(s) Notes Ref(s)
1992 Chicano Chariots — Short film; Director only [14]
1993 My Boyfriend's Back Guy #2 [15][16]
Dazed and Confused David Wooderson [2]
1994 Angels in the Outfield Ben Williams [17]
1995 The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Vilmer Slaughter [18]
Boys on the Side Officer Abe Lincoln [19]
Glory Daze Rental Truck Guy [20]
Scorpion Spring El Rojo [21][22]
1996 Lone Star Buddy Deeds [23]
A Time to Kill Jake Brigance [24]
Larger than Life Tip Tucker [25]
1997 Contact Palmer Joss [26]
Amistad Roger Sherman Baldwin [27]
1998 The Newton Boys Willis Newton [28]
Making Sandwiches Bud Hoagie Short film; Also producer [29]
The Rebel — Short film; Producer, writer, and director only [30]
1999 EDtv Ed Pekurny [31]
2000 U-571 Lt. Andrew Tyler [32]
2001 The Wedding Planner Steve Edison [33]
Frailty Fenton/Adam Meiks [34]
2002 Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Troy [35]
Reign of Fire Denton Van Zan [36]
2003 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Benjamin Barry [37]
Tiptoes Steven [38]
2005 Sahara Dirk Pitt Also executive producer [39]
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D Al Bean Documentary; Voice role [40]
Two for the Money Brandon Lang [41]
2006 Failure to Launch Tripp [42]
We Are Marshall Jack Lengyel [43]
2008 Fool's Gold Ben "Finn" Finnegan [44]
Tropic Thunder Rick Peck [45]
Surfer, Dude Steve Addington Also producer [46]
2009 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Connor Mead [47]
2011 The Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller [48]
Bernie Danny Buck Davidson [49]
Killer Joe "Killer" Joe Cooper [50][51]
2012 Mud Mud [52]
Magic Mike Dallas [53]
The Paperboy Ward Jansen [54][55]
2013 Dallas Buyers Club Ron Woodroof [56]
The Wolf of Wall Street Mark Hanna [57]
2014 Interstellar Cooper [58]
2015 The Sea of Trees Arthur Brennan [59][60]
2016 Free State of Jones Newton Knight [61]
Kubo and the Two Strings Beetle Voice role [62]
Sing Buster Moon Voice role [63]
Gold Kenny Wells Also producer [64][65]
2017 The Dark Tower Walter Padick [66][67]
2018 White Boy Rick Richard Wershe Sr. [68]
2019 Serenity Baker Dill [69]
The Beach Bum Moondog [70]
Between Two Ferns: The Movie Himself Cameo [71]
The Gentlemen Mickey Pearson Also co-producer [72]
2021 Sing 2 Buster Moon Voice role [73]
TBA The Rivals of Amziah King Amziah King Post-production [74]
Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

A photograph of McConaughey with True Detective co-star Woody Harrelson at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2014
McConaughey (right) with True Detective co-star Woody Harrelson (left) at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2014
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1992 Unsolved Mysteries Larry Dickens Episode: #5.12 [75]
1999 King of the Hill Rad Thidbodeaux Episode: "The Wedding of Bobby Hill"
Voice role 		[76]
2000 Sex and the City Himself Episode: "Escape from New York" [77]
2003 Saturday Night Live Host Episode: "Matthew McConaughey/Dixie Chicks" [78]
2003 Freedom: A History of US Charles Fenno Hoffman
Alexander H. Stephens
Captain W. W. Wood
Andrew Johnson
John Swinton
Mark Twain 		6 episodes [79]
2010–2012 Eastbound & Down Roy McDaniel 3 episodes [80]
2014 True Detective Rustin "Rust" Cohle Season 1
Also executive producer 		[81]
2015 Saturday Night Live Host Episode: "Matthew McConaughey/Adele" [78]
2023 Agent Elvis Elvis Presley Voice role; lead actor; also executive producer [82]

Music videos

Year Title Artist Role Ref.
1992 Walkaway Joe Trisha Yearwood ft. Don Henley Walkaway Joe [83]
1996 Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First) John Mellencamp Male lead [84]
2012 Synthesizers Butch Walker and The Black Widows David Wooderson [85]
2024 Nine Ball Zach Bryan Male lead [86]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2024 Exodus TBA Voice [87]

See also

References

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