Matthew McConaughey was ― at one point in his career ― the undisputed king of rom-coms.
So much so that transitioning to more serious roles later in his profession took some tough choices ― including turning down a reported $14.5 million to take on one last heartthrob role. But that’s a decision the “Greenlights” author says he doesn’t regret today.
“Intellectually, that was a hard one to say ‘no’ to,” he told E!’s “Daily Pop” on Monday.
“Just looking at that sheer number — are you kidding me? Wow. But I knew I needed to remain on my sabbatical from the films I had been doing for my own soul. And so, no, I never regretted it.”
While the actor found serious success in more dramatic roles, including his Oscar-winning performance in “Dallas Buyers Club,” there is one rom-com in particular he’d “possibly” commit to for a sequel.
“I mean, ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ is teed up, you know, teed up for one that you could easily do a sequel,” the actor said. “And that was a really good one. As far as romantic comedies go, that was a really good one.”
“And it lasts!” the actor added. “People still love that one. I enjoyed that one quite a bit.”
Somebody get Kate Hudson on the phone, stat.
Funnily enough, the two co-stars reminisced back in February about one of the famous scenes from “How to Lose a Guy” after McConaughey posted a still from the movie on his Instagram.
In the scene, Hudson’s character, Andie Anderson, berates McConaughey’s Benjamin Barry for not taking care of their “love fern.”
“Our love fern! You let it die!” she says, while the actor calmly replies with, “No, honey, it’s just sleeping.”
“That damn fern,” McConaughey captioned his post.
While there are a lot of roles that McConaughey has loved throughout his career, including his time as Benjamin Barry, the actor has also opened up during his virtual book tour about certain roles he wished he’d gotten.
The actor recently stopped by the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and told host Josh Horowitz that he “wanted” a shot at playing the Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Really?” Horowitz said. “Did you throw your hat in the ring? Did you say, ‘I’m game if you guys are?’”
“Yep,” the actor replied. “They said, ‘No, thank you.’”
“Can’t get ’em all, I guess,” Horowitz said.