10 Actors Who Improved At Something They Were Terrible At
9. Matthew McConaughey - Saying No To Rom-Coms
Matthew McConaughey made a name for himself early in his career with strong performances in films such as Dazed and Confused, Lone Star, A Time to Kill, and Contact.
However, at the turn of the millennium, McConaughey made the decision to basically cash-in and give himself over to the broadest star vehicles Hollywood wanted to offer him - typically rom-coms and action films which didn't demand much acting effort.
And though McConaughey remained a viable box office commodity throughout this period, his fans lamented that he spent the better part of a decade starring in the likes of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sahara, Failure to Launch, Fool's Gold, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
Yet in the early 2010s, McConaughey enjoyed a major career turnaround, lovingly dubbed "The McConaissance," which saw him appear in a slew of acclaimed films such as Bernie, Killer Joe, Mud, Magic Mike, Dallas Buyers Club (for which he won a Best Actor Oscar), The Wolf of Wall Street, Interstellar, and also True Detective's first season.
As for what changed? McConaughey freely admitted that it was a concerted effort on his part to turn down high-paying roles and only pursue what actually interested him. He said in a 2017 interview with The Guardian:
"I wrote, 'F**k the bucks - I'm going for the experience.'"
McConaughey, who was in a privileged position of being supremely wealthy by his own admission, was able to turn down the vapid genre film parts and effectively sit on his hands for eight months until more compelling dramatic roles started coming his way.
No matter how rich an actor might be, turning down a lucrative gig - typically one spent hanging out with beautiful actresses in exotic locations - can't be easy. But in doing so, McConaughey revitalised his career and even won an Oscar for his efforts.