Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey is an American actor and producer who has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most versatile leading men. Born on November 4, 1969, in Uvalde, Texas, McConaughey was raised in Longview, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied film production and developed his passion for acting. His breakout role came in 1993 when he was cast as Wooderson in Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age film “Dazed and Confused,” delivering the iconic line “Alright, alright, alright.”

Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, McConaughey became a major box office draw, starring in a mix of legal thrillers like “A Time to Kill” (1996) and romantic comedies including “The Wedding Planner” (2001), “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” (2003), and “Failure to Launch” (2006). While commercially successful, these roles typecast him as a charming leading man in lighter fare. In the early 2010s, McConaughey made a deliberate pivot in his career that became known as the “McConaissance.”

The McConaissance saw McConaughey take on challenging dramatic roles that showcased his range. He delivered critically acclaimed performances in “Mud” (2012), “Magic Mike” (2012), and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013). His transformative performance as Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013), for which he lost nearly 50 pounds, earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He followed this with starring roles in Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” (2014) and the first season of HBO’s “True Detective.”

Beyond acting, McConaughey is a bestselling author with his memoir “Greenlights” (2020), a professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication, and has lucrative brand partnerships including his role as creative director for Wild Turkey bourbon. He married Brazilian model Camila Alves in 2012, and they have three children. As of 2026, his estimated net worth is $160 million.