Matthew McConaughey opens up about finally returning to the big screen: ‘Remembered that acting is a vacation for me'
The wait is over. The man who once redefined the rom-com, then snagged an Oscar in a career reinvention few saw coming, has finally returned to the screen. After six years away from the spotlight, Matthew McConaughey is back, and he's bringing the slow-burning intensity that made him a Hollywood icon with The Rivals of Amziah King, which released this March.
It's been a long road for the 55-year-old Texan, who stepped back from acting in 2016 following a remarkable run. During the first day on set of his new film, he wasn't afraid to show a little vulnerability. 'Is anybody else nervous except for me?' he asked the cast and crew. As the room erupted in laughter, McConaughey smiled and added, 'Alright, alright, alright, just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one.' As per Variety, the veteran actor felt like his boots had been in the closet for a bit too long.
So why did McConaughey vanish from acting at the height of his career? 'I needed to write my own story, direct my own story on the page,' he says, reflecting on the years he spent out of the limelight. In 2020, he released Greenlights, his memoir that was equal parts autobiography, philosophical meditation, and wild road trip. He also voiced animated characters in Sing (2016) and Sing 2 (2021), but largely kept a low profile, focusing on family and self-discovery.
McConaughey's return wasn't planned. It was inspired. When he came across the screenplay for The Rivals of Amziah King, written and directed by Andrew Patterson, something clicked. 'It's not where I grew up, but I know of these kind of people and these places and these kind of characters that live in the middle of the country,' McConaughey says. 'This group of people in southeast Oklahoma where the film takes place know the Constitution, they know the rules they are living by, and they're not looking for or getting approval from the rest of the world. I understand them.' Set in southeastern Oklahoma, the film centres on a reclusive beekeeper and his relationship with his foster son — an unlikely tale with grit.
And being back on set reignited something in him. 'I remembered a couple of things,' he says. 'One, how much I truly enjoy performing. Two, I remembered, hey, McConaughey, you're pretty damn good at this. And three, I remembered that acting is a vacation for me, and what I mean by vacation is that when I'm performing, it's my singular focus. When I walk out the door in the morning, my wife says, 'go kick some ass. I got the kiddos. We're good.' That's vacation. Because I'm not multitasking. I'm not compartmentalising. I'm fully focused on finding the truth of my character.'
And for audiences who've missed that signature mix of swagger and soul, The Rivals of Amziah King is more than just a comeback — it's a homecoming.
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