To Matthew McConaughey, life is about making the greenlights. McConaughey wants readers to come away understanding that those yellow and red lights that annoy us and drag us down will soon to turn green.Matthew McConaughey on his 1999 pot bust: 'It was time to smoke a bowl and listen to the beautiful melodic African beats.' The author gives us a lively look at his life in and out of his movies and provides readers with an honest look at who he is. “Greenlights” is more than an autobiography, far more than a comedy or a series of adventures. (And as much wine as he cared to have.) And also ate a lot of ice chips. Six feet tall, he weighed 182 at the time, and got down to 140 pounds on a diet of three egg whites for breakfast, 5 ounces of fish and a cup of vegetables for lunch and the same for dinner. He played the lead opposite Jennifer Lopez in “The Wedding Planner.” He followed that with the fiery role of Denton Van Zan in “Reign of Fire,” who was “a cigar-gnawing, apocalyptic, badass dragon slayer that ate the heart of every dragon he slayed.”Īfter being in excellent physical condition and playing “Magic Mike,” he accepted the role of Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club.” Woodroof had Stage 4 HIV, so McConaughey had to lose considerable weight in the five months before the shooting began. He was equally happy in bars, trailer camps, a jail (where he was set free for $50), and taking solo three-week-trips to Peru, floating naked on his back down the Amazon River.Įventually he tired of doing romantic comedies, so he swore off rom-coms and turned down any script that he deemed “light fare.” But at about that time, Hollywood was starting as many productions as possible because a walkout was looming. With only $1,200 left in the bank, he was paid $48,000.Ī production company had him stay for 18 months at the ultrachic Chateau Marmont hotel in Beverly Hills, and gave him a check for $150,000 to pay the hotel bill. Two weeks later he found himself playing baseball in “Angels in the Outfield” for 10 weeks.

They asked him, “You ever play baseball?” Yes, he said, he did for 12 years. He did not know how to “Navigate the decadence of my success, much less believe it was mine to enjoy.” It was after he had been a bank teller, boat mechanic, photo processor, barrister’s assistant, construction worker and assistant golf pro that he finally signed up with a talent agency. But his newfound success did not come easily. I dropped to my knees, faced that full moon, extended my right hand up to it, and said, ‘Thank you.’” He said, “I ran off into the night until I was about a mile away from anyone. He read for the role of Jake Brigance and got the role. McConaughey’s first big movie was “A Time to Kill.” He nailed a part in the film, but he wanted the lead and only the lead.

Matthew mcconaughey greenlights