On the first day of filming The Rivals of Amziah King, Matthew McConaughey walked onto set with his right eye swollen from a bee sting and raised his hand to ask, “Is anybody else nervous except for me?”
The cast and crew burst into laughter as McConaughey, with his signature drawl, reassured them:
“Alright, alright, alright, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one.”
But his nerves were real. Returning to acting after a six-year hiatus, McConaughey admits he felt rusty. Since his last major on-screen role, he had written his bestselling memoir Greenlights, taken on a few voice-acting gigs (Sing 2), spent time with his family, and kept a lower profile.
“I needed to write my own story, direct my own story on the page,” McConaughey says of his time away from the camera.
Finding the Right Story for His Comeback
McConaughey wasn’t actively searching for a new project, but when he came across Andrew Patterson’s script, he connected instantly with the story of a charismatic honey farm owner in Oklahoma and his relationship with his foster child.
“It’s not where I grew up, but I know these kinds of people and places,” he explains. “This group of people in southeast Oklahoma, where the film takes place, they know the Constitution, they know the rules they’re living by, and they’re not looking for or getting approval from the rest of the world. I understand them.”
Patterson, who had developed the project over several years, even expanding it into a seven-episode mini-series at one point, had always envisioned McConaughey in the lead role.
“I wanted an actor with the type of personality where he could just hang out with them for hours,” Patterson says.
“It had to be somebody so disarming, who would just do their thing inside this world I was trying to evoke, and who could be comedic in a dramatic movie. There aren’t many people like that.”
McConaughey’s Magnetic Presence
Even in conversation, McConaughey exudes the same easygoing magnetism that makes him so watchable on screen. He has a tendency to monologue, drifting away from a question before circling back with a thought-provoking answer.
At one point, he turns the interview around, asking for my interpretation of a particular scene or thoughts on the film’s rural setting.
“Well, there you go,” he says encouragingly when I offer my perspective.
Then, he adds with a chuckle:
“I guess for a New Yorker, you are pretty far removed from that world. So you might see a people and place like this and go, ‘Oh, I didn’t really know that existed, right?’ Which absolutely is the best thing about movies.”
Rediscovering His Passion for Acting
McConaughey admits that filming The Rivals of Amziah King reminded him why he loves acting.
“I remembered a couple of things,” he says. “One, how much I truly enjoy performing. Two, I remembered, hey, McConaughey, you’re pretty damn good at this.
And three, I remembered that acting is a vacation for me, and what I mean by vacation is that when I’m performing, it’s my singular focus.
When I walk out the door in the morning, my wife says, ‘Go kick some ass. I got the kiddos. We’re good.’ That’s vacation. Because I’m not multitasking. I’m not compartmentalizing. I’m fully focused on finding the truth of my character.”
Matthew McConaugheyHis time spent writing Greenlights also had a profound impact on him as an actor.
“The memoir was extremely honest, and it forced me to be honest with myself,” he says. “It cleared up things you’ve been thinking about for 35 years. And it makes you realize, that’s kind of who you are, Matthew.
Let’s admit that and shake hands. Bravo. That gave me even more trust in myself because, you know, there was less to maybe hide about myself. I had shared it. So that’s made it easier for me to be honest as an actor.”
Thoughts on True Detective and the Legacy of Season 1
McConaughey also reflects on the legacy of True Detective, the HBO crime anthology series that helped revitalize his career when it premiered in 2014. Since then, the series has continued with three more seasons of varying success, the latest being True Detective: North Country (2024), starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis.
“I watched, I saw it. Yeah, there’s a lot about it that I appreciated,” he says, pausing. “My favorite season—and I feel like I can say this objectively—is Season 1.”
Then, with a self-aware grin, he adds:
“I happen to be in that one, so I thought that was incredible, incredible television and a great series. I watched it weekly, like everyone else, on Sunday night, and that was an event for me. And I got to sit back and enjoy that.
I loved the water cooler talk on Monday morning. Even though I made it, I sort of forgot what was going to happen next. It was one of the great events in TV.”
Introducing Angelina LookingGlass
Much like True Detective, The Rivals of Amziah King relies on strong on-screen chemistry between McConaughey and his co-star. The film pairs him with newcomer Angelina LookingGlass, who plays Kateri, his long-lost foster daughter whom he brings back into the family business.
LookingGlass landed the role after an extensive nationwide search, with the production auditioning over 200 Indigenous actors.
“Angelina had the most infectious smile, but she can turn it on a dime and just stare a hole through a person,” Patterson says. “We knew the second she read with Matthew that the part was hers.”
McConaughey can’t praise LookingGlass enough, bringing her up multiple times during our conversation.
“She only knows how to do what so many of us actors forget to do when we learn to, quote-unquote, act, which is listen and respond honestly to the truth of a situation,” McConaughey says. “That’s it. That’s the secret. An actor doesn’t want to get caught acting. Every actor worth their salt knows what I’m talking about.”
With The Rivals of Amziah King premiering at SXSW on March 10, McConaughey’s return to the big screen is already generating buzz. Whether it sparks another “McConaissance”, only time will tell—but one thing is certain: he’s back and as passionate as ever.