How Matthew McConaughey Movies Fixed 1 Problem He Had With Rom-Coms
Matthew McConaughey was the king of romantic comedies for a while. From The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days to Failure to Launch and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, McConaughey had chemistry and charm. Before Wedding Planner, McConaughey always had a big problem with rom-coms and he was determined to fix it.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.]
McConaughey appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast on Oct. 22 to promote his autobiography Greenlights. Even though he’s left rom-coms behind, McConaughey is proud of what he contributed to the genre.
There’s more than just charm in Matthew McConaughey movies
McConaughey has charm to spare, that’s for sure. It takes more than that to make a hit movie, McConaughey said.
“It’s working more than the charm muscle,” McConaughey told Maron. “I don’t think they would have been as successful if I was only working the charm muscle.”
Before he did The Wedding Planner or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, McConaughey had a big problem with the men in romantic comedies. He determined he’d be different.
“A lot of times the male is so emasculated in those, meaning they come back in the end just like woe be me, please take me back, I’m nothing without you,” McConaughey said.
The top 5 Matthew McConaughey rom-coms
- 1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
- 2. The Wedding Planner
- 3. Failure to Launch
- 4. Fool’s Gold
- 5. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
In The Wedding Planner, McConaughey played a groom who fell for the wedding planner (Jennifer Lopez). In How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, he took a bet that he could win over Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson). Andie has her own agenda, too, but even after his screw-ups in both movies, McConaughey approached the reconciliation with dignity.
“I always tried to give at least some dignity to that and go, ‘Look, I screwed up and I really want you back. If you forgive me, I think we could really do something great together,’” McConaughey said. “I can’t just walk in here and go, ‘Oh, if you don’t take me back I’m nothing.’”
Calling bullsh*t was a pivotal moment in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. McConaughey called bullsh*t on men begging leading ladies to take them back.
“I would have conversations with the directors,” McConaughey said. “That guy that you’re talking about that comes back and just goes whatever, just take me back, I’m nothing without you, what girl wants that guy? It’s a load to put on them. That girl’s walking away going, ‘Oh jeez, stand up for yourself a little bit.’”
1 thing that definitely didn’t matter in rom-coms
Dignity may have made McConaughey’s movies more successful than the competition. He agreed other details didn’t matter.
“The rom-com, it’s not about what my vocation is,” McConaughey said. “In How to Lose a Guy, I’m in an advertising agency. Who cares? It’s just about the guy and the girl, they’re going to get together, they’re gonna break up somehow, they’re gonna get mad, then the boy will chase the girl at the end and then we’re going to roll credits.”
Source: WTF with Marc Maron podcast
