Dallas Buyers Club star Matthew McConaughey has revealed that he fled to Peru in the early days of his career after his newfound fame made him lose touch with reality.
The Interstellar actor, 56, went to South America for 22 days to get his “feet on the ground” and decipher which parts of his personality were “real” and which parts were “bulls***”.
McConaughey said the first 12 days of his trip, during which he lived with no electricity were “wonky” but he soon found people who enlightened him and “reaffirmed” his identity.
“I needed to meet people who knew me as Mateo,” the star said on the No Magic Pill podcast of the nickname he went by throughout the trip.
McConaughey shared that at the end of the 22 days, his new friends’ eyes were filled with tears when they came to say goodbye.
“The hugs we had and the sadness and happiness of saying goodbye were all based off of the man they met named Mateo, who had nothing to do with the celebrity,” he said.
“It reaffirmed my own identity that, ‘Oh, I still got it. This is based on me.’”
McConaughey rose to fame in the early Nineties after his breakthrough role in the 1993 comedy indie film Dazed and Confused.
The star, who grew up in Uvalde, Texas, years later left Hollywood and returned to the Lone Star State after he grew frustrated at being repeatedly cast in romantic comedies.
His career had begun to be limited by agents after he became a household name with hits including The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
McConaughey told Interview that “it was scary” to leave Hollywood while his stock was soaring, adding he thought his return to Texas would mean he’d face a career change.
“I think I’m going to teach high school classes. I think I’m going to study to be a conductor. I think I’m going to go be a wildlife guide,” the actor said.
“That was probably seen as the most rebellious move in Hollywood by me because it really sent the signal, ‘He ain’t f****** bluffing.’”
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