Matthew McConaughey defends romantic comedies; says they are hard to make

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Just a little over a year ago, Matthew McConaughey was a has-been in Hollywood. Despite the recent success of THE LINCOLN LAWYER and some critical acclaim for MUD, but his successly rebirth as a top tier leading man thanks to DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and TRUE DETECTIVE was just on the cusp of becoming a reality. Back then, McConaughey was still relegated to being a romantic comedy leading man rather than considered the type of actor who would go on to star in Christopher Nolan's INTERSTELLAR.

But, McConaughey himself is quick to defend the genre that gave him a career for over a decade. In fact, he even told GQ how hard it can be to make a really good romantic comedy these days.

"These things aren't easy. What's hard is to make them look easy. Those kinds of movies are what they are. They get pooh-poohed by critics. They get pooh-poohed by actors themselves. And in a way I get it, but in other ways it's completely unfair. There's a buoyancy you need to make them work. I believe I gave them buoyancy. And some of the shoots were very difficult, with me trying to fight for the balls on the guy."

While some of his movies ended up being charming, by the time he was starring in GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST and FAILURE TO LAUNCH, it seemed like he was on autopilot and just phoning his performances in. But, the Best Actor winner disagrees.

"What's a romantic comedy? Boy meets girl. They get together. Something happens. Girl takes off. Boy chases girl. They get back together. The end. A lot of times the male is somewhat emasculated, meaning he has to crawl back and say, 'I'm nothing without you. If you don't take me back, I'm nothing.' And I was always like, 'what girl wants that guy?' I've got no problem saying, 'I'm sorry. You want to give this another shot?' But I've got to come back with some integrity even if it's on a moped with a veil on my head. Look, I'm happy if you think I 'cruised through' those. I did my work."

Matthew McConaughey doesn't seem like he is going to need to go back to making romantic comedies any time soon, but I have to respect that he defends his work as work. All too often we consider actors to have the easiest job in the world when it is a job just like any other with a few extra perks. At least now he has the critical backing that will let him stretch his abilities on screen even farther than those movies allowed.

INTERSTELLAR should prove that when it opens on November 7th.