Matthew McConaughey shares how he almost walked away from everything

Matthew McConaughey reflected on making an agreement with his wife to stay in Texas during difficult times in his career.

While speaking with Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios on his Good Trouble podcast, McConaughey remembered a time in his career when he felt he was on “autopilot” and not giving performances that resonated with him.

Shedding light on his roles in rom-coms, the 55-year-old actor quipped, “When I was rolling with the rom-coms, and I was the ‘rom-com dude,’ that was my lane and I liked that lane.”

“That lane paid well, and it was working. I was so strong in that lane that anything outside that lane — dramas and stuff that I wanted to do — were like, ‘No, no, no. No, McConaughey. No, no, no. You stay there.’ So, since I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, I stopped doing what I was doing, and I moved down to the ranch in Texas,” the Interstellar actor shared.

Moving forward, McConaughey mentioned that when he was making movies in the late 2000s, he made a deal with his wife to not return to Hollywood “unless I get offered roles I want to do.”

This did not include his usual romantic comedies or an action-comedy role for which he was first offered $8 million and later $14.5 million, both of which he turned down.

"Dude, it was scary. I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation. 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. I honestly thought, ‘I stepped out of Hollywood. I got out of my lane.’ The lane Hollywood said I should stay in, and Hollywood’s like, ‘Well, f**** you, dude. You should have stayed in your lane. Later,’” the Oscar-winning actor concluded.