Written off as a romcom himbo, resurrected as an Oscar-winning leading man, Matthew McConaughey is about to go Interstellar with Christopher Nolan - but not before he shares his rules for life in the latest issue of GQ as our December edition cover star. Here, get an exclusive preview of his shoot, as well as a few choice quotes from our interview:
On his role in Interstellar:
"I'll say this, it's the most ambitious film that Chris Nolan has ever directed. By far. It goes out there further than any story I've ever seen. The epic scale is larger, but also, the intimacy, the pulse of the movie. It's the most human film he's done as well. We're not dealing with archetypes like Batman. We're dealing with a guy, with family, with choice… It's as big as it gets, man."
On telling his agent he wouldn't accept rom-coms anymore:
"After eight months, I remember my agent calling and he said, 'I think I got the message out.' And I said, 'How do you know?' And he said, 'Because nobody is sending s**t.'"
On finding himself dissatisfied with his career [before the 'McConaissance']:
"I said to myself: 'Why are you doing it then?' And I said, 'I want to be three things. I want to be a husband. I want to be a father. And I want to be an actor for hire.' I had to start downsizing to get happier."
On teaching his kids to work hard now for rewards later:
"Kids don't think about later. Everything is right now. So that's what we're trying to teach them: delayed gratification. Like, remember that time when Papai was skinny [for Dallas Buyers Club] and I wasn't around much, and I couldn't go outside and play with you? Well, for the work I did then, a year and a half later, somebody deemed it excel- lent, and gave me a first-place trophy for it."
On his son Lexi:
"He asked me what a tsunami was, and if one could come here [to Malibu]. And I said, 'Yeah.' So he said, 'Well, what do we do?' And I go, 'Well, you grab your most prized possessions. We get the dog, we get the cat and we git out quick.' And he goes, 'But, Papai, we also take the Oscar, right?' I was like, 'Good man! Good man! I'm glad you picked that up. Yes, we do.'"
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