Matthew McConaughey ‘Quit’ Romantic Comedies For His Wife And Family But Admitted ‘It Was Scary’

Apr 11, 2022 by apost team

Matthew McConaughey is known for being a well-versed actor in the entertainment industry, specifically for his roles as the romantic lead in various romantic comedies. While it's clear that McConaughey is able to capture the heart of anyone in any of the romantic comedies he's starred in, fans may be surprised to know that the actor is just as romantic in real life.

The actor's charming personality has helped him not only win over the hearts of fans from all over the world but also the heart of one very important woman to him: his wife, Camila Alves. McConaughey met Alves back in 2006, and the pair have gone on to have a beautiful life together. 

McConaughey and Alves found love with one another shortly after they first met and began building a long-lasting relationship together. The couple got engaged in 2011 and were later married in a private ceremony in June 2012, in Austin, Texas. Together they have three children: two sons named Levi and Livingston and one daughter named Vida.

While it's clear that someone of McConaughey's level of fame could most likely buy anything he wants for his loved ones, he chooses more intimate and personal gifts to give to his gorgeous wife. Rather than buy Alves extravagant or expensive gifts, such as bouquets of flowers and diamond jewelry, the actor has opted for a more romantic approach and chooses to write handwritten love letters to his wife of over 15 years.

In fact, his relationship has also affected his career. Getting married to Alves and having children led McConaughey to seek out different roles and move away from romantic comedies. The star wanted to pursue roles that challenged him and represented him as a complex person. Keep reading to find out more about what else led the actor to stop appearing in romantic comedies.

While McConaughey is known for being romantic in many films, he has made sure to bring that approach to his real-life marriage with Brazilian model and designer Alves. When it comes to talking about his wife, McConaughey seems to have no shortage of compliments. He has referred to Alves as an other-worldly being and has also described her as graceful, beautiful, and possessing a strong sense of identity, according to E! News.

Time and again, McConaughey has made sure to speak highly of his wife and their relationship, and it's clear that the love goes both ways. Alves spoke with People in 2012 and gave some insights into her relationship with McConaughey. Surprisingly, she never saw herself getting married but has grown to enjoy every moment with her family. 

"The main thing for me is to make sure our home is peaceful, that it's healthy, that the kids are good," Alves said. "I didn't know how important (the wedding) was, and how really truly special it was until I went through the ceremony."

Fortunately, that household dynamic Alves was longing for seems to be a reality for the family, as both parents have found a great balance of caring for each other and their children. The kids are allowed to stay awake until the late hours of the night on Fridays but still know right from wrong thanks to McConaughey's ability to mix steadfast rules into the laid-back feeling that he is famous for. He told People that he is grateful to have three healthy children, and they are very strong in their individuality. 

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As a romantic guy, naturally, McConaughey earned his name playing leads in romantic comedies throughout the 2000s, including in movies like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "Failure to Launch." The star said, as reported by Indiewire:

"The romantic comedies remained my only consistent box office hits, which made them my only consistent incoming offers. I enjoyed being able to give people a 90-minute breezy romantic getaway from the stress of their lives where they didn't have to think about anything ... I had taken the baton from Hugh Grant, and I ran with it."

McConaughey added that he "enjoyed making romantic comedies, and their paychecks rented the houses on the beach I ran shirtless on," but ultimately the actor decided it was time to pursue different roles. However, changing the kind of roles one gets in Hollywood isn't as easy as one might expect. McConaughey was serious about making the switch and even rejected a $14.5 million offer to appear in another romantic comedy. "I declined the offer," he said. "If I couldn't do what I wanted, I wasn't going to do what I didn't, no matter the price." After he declined the offer, the industry had to accept that the star would no longer be in any more rom-coms. McConaughey told AARP:

"Word got around Hollywood I'd done that, and they said, 'McConaughey's not bluffing. Quit sending him romantic comedies!'" 

But it wasn't so easy for the actor. He added:

"But no matter how much of a pay cut I would take, dramas were not being offered to me." 

This led McConaughey to do something drastic. He told AARP:

"So I quit. I talked to my wife, my agent and my business manager and said, 'Look, I may not work for a while.' And trust me, my family — my brothers, my mother, everybody — thought I was out of my freaking mind. They were like, 'Little brother, what's your major malfunction?'"

He admitted:

"It was scary. But Camila said, 'If we're going to do this, we're not going to half-a** it.'"

In fact, his wife was a major inspiration for why he wanted to stop making romantic comedies in the first place, as well as the fact that he was at a different stage in his life. The actor also shared that there was a more artistic reason for wanting to play different roles. He said, "There's a certain buoyancy built into rom-coms that isn't about hanging your hat on humanity like a drama is." He added:

"In my life, though, I was going very deep. I found the love of my life in Camila. We had a newborn coming. I had more things to get angry about, laugh about, have more joy about and be sad about. The ceilings and basements had more depth and height to them, and I wanted to do work that reflected my personal vitality."

The two years that McConaughey didn't work proved to be exactly what he needed as a star, and he came back strong with "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Killer Joe," "Bernie," "True Detective" and "Dallas Buyers Club," which ended up netting him an Oscar. He explained:

"I unbranded those two years to then rebrand. All of a sudden, I became a new, novel idea. The dramas came my way, and I jumped on them."  

What do you think about McConaughey's decision to move away from romantic comedies? Let us know and feel free to pass this along to your friends and family so they can read about it too!