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Why Matthew McConaughey quit Hollywood six years ago, and why he's back with The Rivals of Amziah King
"I needed to write my own story," True Detective and Sing 2 star McConaughey said. Quite the range on that guy
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Don't worry, Matthew McConaughey is alright (go ahead and do the impression, I can't stop you). Even though it's been nearly six years since McConaughey's last big screen performance, 2019's The Gentlemen, directed by Guy Ritchie, McConaughey is still very much in the movie-making game, as evidenced by his recent SXSW hit The Rivals of Amziah King. But just where was the True Detective actor in the interim?
"I needed to write my own story," McConaughey told Variety recently, "Direct my own story on the page."
Yes, even the you can hear McConaughey's voice in the animated Sing 2 and as a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine (he's Cowboypool, if you're wondering), his almost total removal from the world of filmmaking allowed him to write his memoirs. The resulting book, Greenlights, was published in 2020 by the Crown Publishing Group. I know you're doing the math in your head - taking into account the global COVID shutdown of 2020, and maybe a book tour in 2021, there are still three years in between McConaughey's writing the book and stepping back on set for The Rivals of Amziah King. Variety reports that McConaughey spent that time away from the lielight and with his family, and as we mentioned, ducking into a sound booth every now and again.
What brought McConaughey back to his place in front of a camera was the Amziah King script penned by Andrew Patterson, who wrote and directed the 2019 scifi wonder The Vast of Night (please, please go watch that movie, reader, you will not regret it). Apparently, the script reminded McConaughey of his upbringing.
"It’s not where I grew up," McConaughey tells his interviewer, "but I know of these kind of people and these places and these kind of characters that live in the middle of the country [...] This group of people in southeast Oklahoma where the film takes place know the Constitution, they know the rules they are living by, and they’re not looking for or getting approval from the rest of the world. I understand them."
As of this writing, there is no word on when The Rivals of Amziah King will see its nationwide release to general US cinemas. But hang around Popverse, gentle reader, and we'll let you know as soon as we do.
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