Asra Yousuf

From a confused romantic in ‘The Wedding Planner’ to an astronaut on an earth-saving mission in ‘Interstellar’, it has been a pleasure watching Mathew McConaughey evolve as an actor (and yes, I had to google the spelling of his last name). He no longer comes across as a stranger, but yet as I read his autobiography I questioned if I ever knew this person- the son, the brother, the father and the husband. The story of his life took me on a journey to the places he had been, the struggles he had witnessed and the ‘greenlights’ that led him to where he is. It is challenging to summarize such a rich life in a blog post, and I am not even going to try. However, I shall attempt to put together some pieces and incidents of the book that stood out the most to me.

When you CAN, ask yourself if you WANT before you do

On one of his first few movie sets, McConaughey had the opportunity to live in a guest house that came with a maid- a luxury that he hadn’t enjoyed before. While talking to a friend about his new found comfort, he exclaimed, “She even presses my jeans!”, to which his friend replied, “That’s great, Mathew, if you want your jeans pressed.”

His friend’s response made me pause and rethink- did he really want his jeans pressed? And he realized that he didn’t.

Often a times, it becomes difficult to separate your wants from your need. When you are poor, it is never a question of “Do I want it?” but rather that of “Can I afford it?” but with wealth it takes a whole different level of consciousness to recognize that I CAN afford it but I do not WANT it.

Ask, and the universe shall conspire for you

While in the initial phase of his career wherein he was still playing the third or fourth lead, McConaughey got to audition for a role in “A time to kill”. After reading the script, he realized he wanted to be cast in the lead role and not in a supporting one. He pitched the idea to the director, Joel Schumacher, who immediately dismissed it saying that Warner Bros would never put a relatively unknown actor in the lead role. Having planted the seed, McConaughey watched as his path was lit up by greenlights- Sandra Bullock’s latest hit meant that with a strong leading actress, the movie no longer needed a bankable actor in the lead. In addition, John Grisham, who had casting approval preferred McConaughey over the other contender due to certain past incidents.

“A time to kill” was McConaughey’s first real break and it put him on the map. And he would never have been considered if he hadn’t gone up to Joel and pitched himself. Before his audition, the advice that his mother gave him was – “Don’t walk in there like you want the role, Mathew. Walk in there like you own it”.

“Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate”

On the brink of fatherhood, McConaughey was caught with the realization that he had his hands full- family, foundation, acting, a production company and a music label. He felt like he was making B’s in all five. At that moment he decided on put on some brake and take some hard calls. He shut down the production company and the music label with an intention to make A’s in the things that mattered to him most- family, foundation and acting.

Priotization is so critical, yet often ignored. We have to-do lists of things to get done without knowing what is important and what can wait. Similarly in life, knowing what needs your focus can make all the difference.

Define success for yourself

When you have played the boy-next-door for years, who is either winning hearts or breaking them, it can turn out to be quite difficult to shake off the image. McConaughey realized that he needed to challenge himself as an actor. He wanted to play parts that “challenged the vibrancy of the life he was living, the man he was” and so after some thought he decided to say no to all romantic comedy movies- even if the offer price was $14.5 million!

After a wait of nearly 2 years, most of which was filled with anxiety and uncertainty, he finally got offers for roles he craved- The Lincoln Lawyer, Magic Mike, Mud. And then came Dallas Buyer Club and the Academy Award for the Best Performance by an Actor in a leading role.

He talks about defining success for yourself- what is success to you? Be it taking care of family, earning the big bucks or getting on to the next level- ask what is important to you and then go for it.

“Time to get rid of the filters. Make my life my favorite movie. Live my favorite character, Write my own script. Direct my own story. Be my biography. Make my own documentary, on me. Nonfiction. Live, not recorded. Time to catch the hero I’ve been chasing, see if the sun will melt the wax that holds my wings or if the heat is just a mirage. Live my legacy now. Quit acting like me. Be me.”