Matthew McConaughey has explained why he turned down a whopping $14.5 million (£11.45 million) role.
For normal folk, refusing that kind of cash would be very, very irresponsible.
But McConaughey had a very good reason for turning down that massive payday.
Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey has explained why he refused the eye-watering amount (YouTube/Chris Williamson)
Whenever the star does an interview, there’s an element of self-awareness that comes across, which is always refreshing to hear.
This time the 55-year-old appeared on a recent episode of Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom podcast to speak about his career and how money isn’t always the defining factor.
“Now, money, fame, that’s the definition of success. It seems to be whoever has more – more access, more money – you’re the winner,” he began.
“I’ve met many very rich men who’ve chased that dollar to be successful and to be relevant for having the most money,” adding that many actors tend to ‘sacrifice quality for quantity’.
The actor believes that money isn’t everything (Robert Smith/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
He insisted that ‘there’s no way I’d be less happy’ by earning a less amount of money, revealing that he turned down $14.5 million.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, McConaughey was offered millions to star in a remake of Magnum, P.I. in 2008.
But he was playing the long game.
“I’d been gone long enough to become a new good idea. ‘Where’s McConaughey?’,” telling the host that he didn’t just want to do comedy movies for the rest of his life.
“You don’t say no to a $14.5m offer.”
Two years later he was offered to the role of Ron Woodroof in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club, which won him an Oscar.
“Taking a year and a half off and saying no to things in some form or fashion made me a new good idea,” he told the outlet at the time.
“Sometimes the target draws the arrow.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, McConaughey spoke about the idea of people not being pleased enough when they achieve something great.
“What do you think when you do succeed and a lot of people go ‘nope, that’s nothing’?” he said.
“I prescribed that I think we should take some time to be able to look in the mirror and own that thing that we pulled off and go ‘good job, that’s what you wanted, that’s what you got’.
“At the same time, be able to, as we do more often, look in the mirror when we fail and go ‘ah bogey you [did] not pull that off’.
“You know what I mean?”
Featured Image Credit: Robert Smith/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images/Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
Topics: Matthew McConaughey, Celebrity
They’re two of Hollywoods most recognisable names, faces, and voices – and while they’ve created a strong friendship over the years, life may be a little closer than a mere bromance for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
The two actors, who both hail from Texas in the US, have formed an endearing friendship over the years as they both became two of the biggest stars to grace the silver screen.
Starring opposite each other in the first season of True Detective back in 2014, Harrelson and McConaughey graced our TV sets in one of the best shows of the year that is still critically acclaimed to this day.
But away from work, McConaughey and Harrelson could possibly be related. And not loosely, we’re talking brothers.
Despite them only meeting for the first time in 1999, where they both starred in comedy film EDtv, their connection seems to go back a lot further than either one of them realised.
The situation all comes down to a conversation between the two of them while they were on holiday in Greece with family.
That included McConaughey’s mother, Mary Kathleen ‘Kay’ McConaughey.
Explaining what happened next, McConaughey said there was one word his mother said that made their connection seem a lot deeper than anyone could have thought.
Are they bros? (Lester Cohen/WireImage)
“In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families,” the 54-year-old said on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast.
“And my mom is there, and she says, ‘Woody, I knew your dad’. Everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after ‘knew’.
“It was a loaded K-N-E-W.”
He also said: “And that’s part of our bromance, right? My kids call him Uncle Woody. His kids call me Uncle Matthew etc etc. And you see pictures of us and my family thinks a lot of pictures of him are me. His family thinks a lot of pictures of me are him.”
The Interstellar actor said the two film stars went on to ‘unpack what this ‘knew’ meant and did some math’.
They found out that Harrelson’s dad had been on furlough at the same time that McConaughey’s mum and dad were in their second divorce (they got married three times, no joke).
Woody’s dad knew Matthew’s mum (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Harrelson said: “The year of [McConaughey’s] birth, nine months before, she was on a sabbatical from her relationship with his supposed father, Jim.”
“Then there’s possible receipts and places out in West Texas where there might have been a gathering, or a meeting, or a ‘knew’ moment,” McConaughey added.
The duo have previously spoken about doing DNA tests to see if this was, in fact, reality, and McConaughey and Harrelson share a dad – with no other than Maury Povich even offering a helping hand.
But so far, they have edged away from this due to McConaughey being uneasy at the idea of finding out his father wasn’t his biological dad; something he’s believed his entire life.
However, he did respond to Povich’s offer, saying: “I don’t know if we’re gonna do it on your show, but I like the way you’re thinking.”
Featured Image Credit: Gary Miller / Universal / Getty Images
Topics: Matthew McConaughey, Celebrity, Film, US News
Liz Hurley once auditioned for a role in one of the most iconic British sitcoms, but was turned away for a very specific reason.
The British star is best known for her roles in the likes of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Bedazzled and TV series The Royals, and most recently made headlines for being in a sex scene in a film that her son wrote and directed.
But the 58-year-old once auditioned for a part in a famous BBC sitcom, though was actually turned down by the writers.
Running on TV from 1981 to 2003, Only Fools has been named as one of the country’s favourite TV shows, with the cast including the likes of David Jason, Lennard Pearce, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong and Nicholas Lyndhurst among others.
Set in Peckham, it followed two bickering brothers and their lives in Peckham, London as they try to become millionaires.
Yes, the show that Hurley auditioned for was Only Fools and Horses. (BBC)
Del Boy (Jason) and Rodney Trotter (Lyndhurst) captured the hearts of the nation, following the two as they eventually found love.
And who can forget the iconic pub scene where Del Boy falls through the bar?
You may remember that Rodney’s love interest, Cassandra, who was played by Gwyneth Strong – but it turns out that Cassandra could have been played by Hurley.
Author Mike Jones revealed in a Channel 5 documentary, titled Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals: “She auditioned for the role and it was felt that perhaps she was probably a little too glamorous for…how can I say it diplomatically? Our lanky Trotter brother.”
At its peak though, a lot of actors gunned for the role of Rodney’s love interest, with Strong coming out on top.
Hurley could have played Rodney’s love interest. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty)
The characters met in the sixth series of the show, getting married and having a daughter together, named Joan.
Cassandra and Rodney met when the latter accidentally took her coat, which looked like his, and later went dancing in a nightclub where they found a connection with each other.
After the two got married, Rodney finally moved out of the flat that he shared with brother Del Boy.
Featured Image Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage / BBC
She’s been in lots of iconic roles over her career but there’s one job in particular that Scarlett Johansson turned down as she ‘felt it went against my core values’.
For many years, she’s made regular appearances in the MCU as Black Widow, then she got thrown off a cliff and died only to get her standalone Black Widow movie afterwards.
Elsewhere in her career she’s resisted the Nazi’s in Jojo Rabbit, has been the other Boleyn girl in The Other Boleyn Girl and got into the weird world of Wes Anderson in Asteroid City.
However, there’s one part she was offered recently which she absolutely didn’t want to do for a few reasons, including it going against her values and thinking ‘it would be strange’ for her children.
She was approached to provide her voice, but turned it down as she ‘felt it went against my core values’. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
It all started when she was approached to be the voice of OpenAI, a chatbot for the ChatGPT system.
It might have been a bit of an allusion to Johansson’s role in the movie Her, where she plays an AI who gradually develops into more of an individual with her own thoughts and desires.
Johansson told the New York Times she’d been approached by OpenAI boss Sam Altman with the job offer but she’d turned down the offer.
She said: “I felt I did not want to be at the forefront of that, I just felt it went against my core values.
“I don’t like to kiss and tell. He came to me with this and I didn’t tell anybody except my husband.
“I also felt for my children it would be strange. I try to be mindful of them.”
Although she turned down being the voice of an AI, she and her husband soon got messages saying ‘Sky’ sounded like Scarlett. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
OpenAI then launched their chatbot, named ‘Sky’, and the Marriage Story star was bombarded by messages from people saying they thought it sounded like her.
As part of the launch, Altman had posted the word ‘her’ onto social media and lots of people drew a link to Johansson, prompting her to release a statement where she said she ‘was shocked, angered and in disbelief’.
Scarlett continued by saying that the OpenAI voice was ‘so eerily similar to mine’.
She would later tell the NYT that her attempts to not be part of this and then being drawn into it ‘was what made it so disturbing’.
In a statement from Altman he said that the voice for ‘Sky’ had been done by someone else who had been cast ‘before any outreach to Ms. Johansson’, but apologised and paused the use of the AI chatbot’s voice.
Featured Image Credit: Paolo Blocco/FilmMagic/Getty Images/Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Celebrity, Scarlett Johansson, Technology, TV and Film
Jennifer Aniston has made a heartfelt tribute to the memory of Friends co-star Matthew Perry on Instagram.
Many of Perry’s co-stars have been finding the words to describe their relationship with him, and Aniston has taken to Instagram to pen her own tribute.
“Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” she wrote.
“We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep.
READ MORE:
MATTHEW PERRY SHARED HOW HE WANTED TO BE REMEMBERED BEFORE HE DIED
MATT LEBLANC RELEASES EMOTIONAL STATEMENT OVER MATTHEW PERRY’S DEATH
MATTHEW PERRY EXPLAINED WHY HE COULD NEVER WATCH FRIENDS BACK BEFORE HE DIED
“And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us.
“This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.
“For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it.
Instagram/@jenniferaniston
“And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another.
“Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…)
“Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying “could you BE any crazier?
“Rest little brother. You always made my day…”
Perry’s co-stars Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston previously released a joint statement following his death.
They said: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.
“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able.
“For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
The Friends stars attended Perry’s funeral at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills on 3 November and most have since made their own personal tributes to him.
Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
On 14 November Matt LeBlanc posted his own personal message, writing: “Matthew. It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life.
“It was an honour to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never.
“Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love. And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.”
His message was followed by Courteney Cox, who played Perry’s on-screen wife Monica in Friends.
She also revealed that the relationship between the two characters was supposed to have been a ‘one night fling’ but the support of the fans transformed it into ‘the beginning of their love story’.
Instagram/@courteneycoxofficial/NBC
“I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day,” her tribute began, accompanied by a clip of a favourite scene they did together in Friends.
“When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share. For now here’s one of my favorites.
“To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one night fling in London. But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story.
