Matthew McConaughey’s Kids Learned a Valuable Lesson From His ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ Oscar Win

Matthew McConaughey‘s kids will take away a huge lesson from their dad’s win at the 2014 Oscars. Many actors typically boast their huge victory on film’s biggest night, but McConaughey took this opportunity to create a life lesson for his kids that they’ll always remember. Here’s a look at how the actor’s Oscar win for Dallas Buyers Club translated into his family life.

Matthew McConaughey won the best actor award for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ at the 2014 Oscars

McConaughey took home one of three Oscars that Dallas Buyers Club won. The film earned best actor, best supporting actor for Jared Leto, and best makeup and hairstyling. The Howard Stern Show talked with McConaughey about the big night when he brought home the golden statue.

“There can’t be a greater high than on Oscar night when you get to look into f***ing Christian Bale’s eyes and Leonardo DiCaprio and you go, ‘You two f***ers, I just beat you,'” Stern said. “I mean, what is a bigger high than that? Honestly. You must have been on cloud nine, it’s like you smacked them right in the head, right? It was beautiful.”

Stern continued: “Do you ever, like in the middle of the night, do you ever call up Leonardo DiCaprio and go, “I just beaut you and then hang up the f***ing phone?’ That’s what I would do if I was you.”

The question inspired a lot of big laughs from the actor before McConaughey discussed his kids.

Matthew McConaughey’s kids learned a valuable lesson from their dad’s 2014 Oscars win

McConaughey explained on The Howard Stern Show that the 2014 Oscars translated into a wonderful night with his kids. He mentioned that educating children on “the value of delayed gratification” is an important aspect of being a parent.

“It was a beautiful night, it really was,” McConaughey said. “You know, one of the cool things that came from that besides the obvious was I was three children, 12, 10, and 7 [years old]. If you got children, you know one of the things we try to teach them is the value of delayed gratification.”

McConaughey recalled the exchange with his children:

“Well, I remember after that, my children going like, ‘What’d you win the trophy for?’ I said, ‘Well, you remember a year and a half ago when we were working and you’d wake up and Papa would already be gone to work and I’d get home and you said, ‘Papa, you look like a giraffe because I was really skinny?’ They were like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘What Papa was doing each day when you would wake up when I was gone, the work I was doing then, a year and a half later, my peers deemed it excellent work and gave me a trophy for it.’”

McConaughey concluded: “So, it was the best version for them getting the click that, ‘Oh, you can do things today and be rewarded tomorrow, if you do them well. It was really cool.”

The actor would only want his kids to become actors if they can learn about themselves first

Stern asked McConaughey if he would ever want his kids to enter the field of going into the acting profession. He would accept their aspirations but would want them to understand a key element about themselves before taking the leap into Hollywood.

“Oh, sure,” McConaughey answered. “I love acting and it’s been very good to me. I will say this, what Hollywood can do to you, I went out there when I was 21. I don’t think I would have been ready when I was 18. I had a sense, I didn’t know, I wasn’t fully secure in who I was, but I had a very good sense of who I wasn’t and who I didn’t want to be before I went out there.”

McConaughey noted: “Hollywood’s not a place to go find yourself. At the same time, it’s a place where you can be anybody you want. It’s not a place to go find yourself. I would want my children to have a sense of themselves and a sense of who they did not want to be before they go out there because again, it’s all the yeses.”

It’s clear that McConaughey has really thought through the idea of his kids entering Hollywood. However, he incorporated his own experiences into his advice.

“Too many options can make a tyrant of any of us,” McConaughey said. “I’ve been guilty of it. It’d be good to go to Hollywood if my kids ever wanted to get a bearing on who they are and who they are not before they go out there.”