10 Actors Who Transitioned From Comedy Stars To Dramatic Darlings

2. Matthew McConaughey

"Alright, alright, alright..." Matthew McConaughey is one of the latest stars to make the leap from rom-com favourite to celebrated dramatic actor. Much like his comrade and former real life romantic partner, Sandra Bullock, in the 00s McConaughey was the go-to guy if you needed someone hot, carefree and willing to take his shirt off. What many people forget is that prior to that glorious decade of shirtlessness, Matt had made his name in the critically acclaimed comedy Dazed and Confused (1993) and delivered some pretty gritty performances, alongside Bullock in A Time to Kill, in historical drama Amistad (1997) and in gang biopic The Newtown Boys (1998). After finding his fortune as a romantic heartthrob with hits like The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days (2003) and Failure to launch (2006), the sheen on his mahogany torso began to fade and McConaughey decided to call it a day, signing off his romantic streak with the abysmal Ghosts of Girlfriends Past in 2009. Since then Matthew has delivered a series of complex, acclaimed performances, in legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), as a detective turned contract killer in Killer Joe (2011) and as a mysterious fugitive in coming-of-age drama Mud (2012). He even managed to deliver some great acting and take his shirt off for old times sake as a stripper in Steven Soderbergh's surprise 2012 hit Magic Mike. After picking up the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of an AIDS victim smuggling life-saving drugs across the US border in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Matthew proved he had been welcomed into the dramatic fold. He can now be seen casually blowing us all away on the small screen in the outstanding HBO gothic crime drama, True Detective. Is there nothing this man can't do?