55 year old US film actor Matthew McConaughey (he of the slow slow and oh-so-easy-to-mimic voice), is a Professor of Practice at the Moody College of Communication.
Matthew developed the course’s curriculum, which provides a unique, behind-the-scenes view of each stage of a film’s production.
He graduated with a BA in Film from UT Austin, Texas in 1993.
Matthew is an Oscar winner who has been in over 50 films, including “Dazed and Confused,” “A Time to Kill,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”, “Mud” (one of my all time faves). Also “Dallas Buyers Club,” for which he won an Oscar and Golden Globe for his leading role.
He is also a very keen and outspoken believer in Jesus. He speaks A LOT (unashamedly) about his relationship with God and reliance on the LORD.
Raised in a Baptist family, Matthew grew up going to church weekly, but started questioning his faith after enrolling in the University of Texas, Austin. He eventually decided that although he believed in God, he didn’t subscribe to any one religion, and stopped attending church.
When he and his wife of 13 years, Camila Alves, married in 1994, Matthew’s perspective on Jesus began to change. Camilla was a committed member of “Riverbend Church” a non-denominational congregation in Austin.
After their wedding, Matthew morphed back into weekly church attendance, as he had done as a young person. He now occasionally reads the Bible to fellow church members at Riverbend.
The couple has three children, Levi, Vida, and Livingston. Camila said Matthew is a very “disciplined” and “hands-on” dad, and no different to other parents:
“… raising kids (has) got its challenges and its blessings, but I would say it’s fun.”.
Matthew says that as a father he doesn’t try to be friends with his kids. He believes that being too friendly with them can be a “disservice” to them. The couple tend to have the same parenting style:
“My wife and I have a similar moral bottom line. When kids try to ‘good cop, bad cop’ ya, we’re on the same page. If they try to play us, we give the same answer. We also have a lot of fun. We can shape them, but they are who they are.”
Matthew says he has learned a “big lesson” from his son Levi:
“My eldest child teaches me daily about consideration. He’s very considerate.”
During Covid, Matthew turned heads after challenging Christian Hollywood peers for not standing up for their faith. He also took time to finish a compilation of his journal entries called “Greenlights” (a reference to the process by which prospective movies receive a thumbs up for funding, or “Greenlighting”).
It discusses his life journey and views on God, prayer, and Christianity:
“I’m a believer. I believe in God,” he said in an interview with ‘Relevant Magazine’. He also believes that his relationship with God requires a certain degree of personal responsibility:
“God’s laying out the highways, but we each have our hand on the wheel. I look at Earth. I look at the little dot that we are on the planet. The world’s turning. And we’re that little individual on the planet. That smallness can make you go, ‘Oh my gosh. I’m nothing. None of what I do matters,’”
“But, a place of humility is actually when you realize, ‘Oh, it all matters.’ There’s a great empowerment that comes with that.”
Matthew said that while he spent time away from socialising to finish his book, his perspective on trusting God and forgiveness changed:
“It ended up being the best time I’ve ever had in my life with myself. All the things I thought I was going to be so embarrassed about, I ended up laughing at.”
“All the things I thought (I) would be so shameful about, I was like, ‘Oh, I forgive you for that.’”
He illustrates this struggle in a story from early in his career in Hollywood – according to ‘Relevant’,
Matthew visited a “remote community of Benedictine monks in New Mexico” where he spent four hours confessing his sins to a monk, Brother Christian:
“(After) four hours, I’m feeling like I’m at the bottom of the earth. I’m bawling and snot’s coming out of my nose. (And) what does he say?”
“The only word he says to me after four hours of my confessions? He looks me in the eyes and he goes: ‘Me too.’ He let me know that I was not the center (sic) of the universe. He let me know it was a human condition, what I was going through.”
“God’s not looking for us to come there perfectly. He’s not looking for us to come there all cleaned up and a halo on it. He wants to open the door when we’re groveling. He’s not going to judge us on that. God’s going to go, ‘Hey man, thanks. I’ll come with you through this. I’ll go with you through this.
Matthew prays often. He says:
“Prayer is inventory.” (A reference to one of the steps in the AA [12 step] programme, in which you make a ‘fearless inventory’ of ALL your sins to a “mentor”)…
“… I go to church once a week. I go, I pray and I do inventory. I take a deep breath, understand myself as me being number two in God’s house, and go back through my week. And then I come out of that church with whatever lesson the pastor shared and go, ‘Alright. Tomorrow’s Monday. Let’s see if we can put those into practice.’”
Matthew says he has received private and personal criticism and judgment for his beliefs from some fellow Hollywood stars:
“I have had– and I won’t throw any people under the bus– but I have had moments where I was on stage receiving an award in front of my peers in Hollywood…”
“… And there were people in the crowd that I have prayed with before dinners many times, and when I thanked God, I saw some of those people go to clap, but then (remember) that ‘bad thing’ on my resume, and then sit back on their hands.”
Matthew is one of Hollywood’s unique players— not only for his acclaimed career but also his “bro-y”, good-natured, philosophical personality. Journalists say that talking to him is exactly what you’d expect it would be like. Fans feels like they know him, because he’s never tried to hide it.
Whether he’s talking about life or his dependence on Jesus, McConaughey isn’t one to shy away from speaking his truth.
Prayer:
Our gracious God and loving heavenly,
Praise you for Matthew and his wife’s love for You, and their commitment to church each week. Thank You that it was Camila’s example that brought him back to relationship with You.
For the sake of Jesus’ glorious name,
Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please help Matthew to be a servant-hearted leader in his marriage and with their kids. Please help their church to be one where Your Word is preached faithfully, engagingly, challengingly, and powerfully.
That Your name might be glorified,
Amen
Dear Father of Your people in all walks of life,
Please help Matthew’s friends in Hollywood surrender to You through to his fearlessness in proclaiming You. And help his and Camila’s lives to beautifully adorn the mighty Gospel of truth.
That Jesus mighty name may be glorified,
Amen