Matthew McConaughey wears many hats for the likes of the University of Texas, Wild Turkey, and Lincoln.
Will Texas native and resident Matthew McConaughey launch a campaign to become governor of the Lone Star State? “It’s a true consideration,” he diplomatically replied when asked the question in March during The Balanced Voice podcast hosted by Rania Mankarious.
This teasing acknowledgement of gubernatorial ambitions came in stark contrast to many of the Oscar-winning actor’s previous remarks regarding politics. When asked a similar question last November by Late Show host Stephen Colbert, McConaughey demurred: “Right now? No. I don’t get politics. Politics seems to be a broken business. Politics needs to redefine its purpose.” On the other hand, he kinda-sorta left the door open when he told radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt that “when politics redefines its purpose, I could be a hell of a lot more interested.”
Of course, finding time for politicking might prove challenging even for an indefatigable multi-tasker like McConaughey.
Consider his current crowded schedule: When he isn’t doing commercial voiceover work for Reliant Energy and appearing in ads for Lincoln automobiles, he is a creative director for Wild Turkey — and co-creator of that company’s Longbranch bourbon brand. He also is part owner of the Austin FC soccer club, and Minister of Culture for the soon-to-open, multimillion-dollar basketball arena and live performance center at Austin’s University of Texas — where, not incidentally, he has taught film courses at the Department of Radio-Television-Film since 2015.
More recently, McConaughey has been the prime mover behind We’re Texas, a virtual benefit concert aimed at helping residents in the state whose homes were damaged and lives disrupted during February’s devastating winter storm. He himself weathered that storm with relatively little stress, enduring only a brief stretch without electricity and “some busted water pipes” at his Austin home. But he was quick to note the needs of fellow Texans who were far less lucky. “I called over 50 Texas artists and musicians,” he said during the Balanced Voice podcast. “And everybody, within the first 30 seconds of my asking, said: ‘Whatever you want me to do — yes.’”
And on top of all that — well, there are his time-consuming twin careers as actor and voiceover artist to consider. To say nothing of what he considers his most important role: Father for Livingston, Vida, and Levi.
“I have three epics in my life,” he told Mankarious, “and that’s my three children. That’s the greatest light or shadow that [wife Camila Alves] and I can leave, the greatest shadow I can leave — as a father.”
Of course, some people do enter politics to help make the world better for their kids. Stay tuned for further developments.
Photography: (Cover image) Miller Mobley; Courtesy Sunshine Sachs/via Getty Images
From our May/June 2021 issue