Matthew McConaughey needed exile to land dramatic roles

Matthew McConaughey needed exile to land dramatic roles

Matthew McConaughey has admitted "no one" wanted to cast him after he rejected romantic comedies.

The 51-year-old star - who became a Hollywood heart throb after starring in movies like 'The Wedding Planner', 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' and 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' - once turned down $14.5 million offer for a rom-com after a six month sabbatical from the film industry to get away from the genre.

Speaking on 'The Brian Buffini Show', he said: "Now, 14 months go by after that six months where nothing comes in, I call my agent every other day, 'What do you got?'

"'Buddy, no one is even mentioning your name. I bring up your name they say, 'Don’t even want to talk about it.' Now I’m going, 'I may have just taken a one-way ticket out of Hollywood. I may never work in Hollywood again'.

"But I had a hunch that I was like with each day – You know when you go and you endure something and you’re taking a pennant, with each day you build a little bit more honour and strength to drag it into this, the less it’s even going to be a possibility of me going back. I was not going back."

The 'Dallas Buyers Club' actor's plan worked out, as his self-imposed exile resulted in people wanted to get him on board for different projects.

He added: "Guess who is now a new novel good idea for dramatic roles like 'Killer Joe', 'Mud', 'Paperboy', 'Bernie', 'True Detective', 'Dallas Buyers Club', 'Magic Mike'? Me. I found anonymity in the 20 months.

"I turned into, 'Where the hell’s McConaughey? He’s not in a rom-com in the theatre in front of me. He’s not in a rom-com in my living room. I’m not seeing him shirtless on the beach, where the hell is he? I don’t know what he’s doing.'

"I found anonymity. I unbranded, and then when those came to me, the scripts came to me that I want to do that dramatic fair, I attacked it with fangs instead and just ate it up, because I knew what I wanted to do, but it was the unbranding. It was the go find anonymity again."