Oscar winner, Golden Globe winner, People’s Choice winner, named one of the 100 most influential people in 2014 by the Times – May I introduce the man who needs no introduction, Matthew McConaughey.
While it is often accepted that Marlon Brando, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix are the best actors, McConaughey is the best actor to have ever walked the planet, period.
Everybody has that one favorite movie that they saw when they were a kid and remembers it as the best movie ever made. When I was a kid, I had three favorite movies: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ ‘Captain America’ and ‘Interstellar.’ Interstellar was my favorite movie out of the three because of its star actor, Matthew McConaughey.
Chris Pratt in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ was hilarious and goofy, and Chris Evans in ‘Captain America,’ was inspiring and overtly patriotic but in a fun and heroic way. Both films had A-list actors and always made me wonder what made McConahuey superior.
It all comes down to two major things, likeability as a celebrity and being able to be a versatile actor.
When I became a freshman in high school, I would watch tons of movies to pass the time because my classes weren’t nearly hard enough for me. During this series of time-wasting I would rediscover my favorite of McConaughey through his early 2000s movies.
I always saw McCognahey as a hero because of his role in Interstellar, but because of his roles in ‘We Are Marshall,’ ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,’ ‘The Wedding Planner ‘ and ‘Tropic Thunder,’ I discovered that McConaughey wasn’t just your regular celebrity actor. Very few actors can capture the emotions of their audiences. I believe that in all of his movies, regardless of genre, he can act in a way that makes the audience feel something in their hearts.
McConaughey’s “We Are Marshall,” is one of the most heartfelt movies you can watch. It is the true story of a college football team that died during a plane crash. McConaughey portrays the college’s head coach, Jack Lengyel, who struggles to rebuild the football program and restore the valor of the college town after such a major loss.
This movie can make you cry, that’s how emotionally powerful McConaughey’s portrayal is. Only true-to-life acting brings that kind of emotion to the table. On a side note, it made my friend cry when we watched it, not me.
Another example of his prime acting abilities can be heard in the ‘Sing’ movies, which McConaughey stars as the voice actor for a koala bear, Buster Moon, who owns an old theater. McConauhey lets his talents truly shine in this movie with such flow and an over-easy nature that compliments a koala bear who struggles with finances most thoughtfully.
Don’t get me wrong. Matthew McConaughey has plenty of better movies where his awesomeness as an actor is unparalleled; we don’t even have to mention his one-man crusade to create ‘Dallas Buyer’s Club.’ But it’s not just his acting, McConaughey is a good human being.
McConaughey has his very own foundation to provide kids who go to inner city schools with free after-school fitness programs. Something few Hollywood actors have done.
McConaughey is also a prominent member of his hometown Uvalde, Texas. In 2022, there was a mass-shooting at one of its local elementary schools. After learning that Uvalde’s police department failed to confront the shooter, McConaughey stood up for the people of his hometown, and made an address at the White House surrounding gun control reform.
McConaughey is real. He is the future of acting and moviemaking. Not Leonardo or crusty old Jack Nicholson.
