Matthew McConaughey turns 56 today, so what better time to check out some of his iconic movie roles over the past 30 plus years.
Matthew McConaughey has been a leading man in films for more than 30 years. While is his most known for his laid-back Southern charm, Matthew has played a wide range of roles over the years and has won many awards for his dramatic performances.
As he turns 56, now is a great time to look at his most iconic roles from over the past 30 years, which are all worth watching – or rewatching.
Dazed and Confused (1993)
This was Matthew’s breakout movie. The coming-of-age comedy movie by Richard Linklater was set in Texas in 1996 and follows the interconnected stories of different groups and characters. Matthew played David Wooderson, a man in his early 20s that still hangs out with high schoolers. Matthew won praise for his role and it brought him to the attention of the movie-going public.
A Time to Kill (1996)
One of Matthew’s early lead roles was A Time To Kill, a drama based on the John Grisham novel. Matthew plays Jake Brigance, a white lawyer who agrees to defend a black man accused of a revenge murder in Mississippi. Jake comes up against racial prejudice – including the Ku Klux Klan – as tensions rise up to and during the trial.
Contact (1997)
This sci-fi drama, based on the novel by Carl Sagan, starred Jodie Foster as a scientist, Dr Ellie Arroway, who discovers evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact. Matthew plays Palmer Joss, a Christian philosopher who is sceptical initially, but later believes her account of her experience of first contact.
Amistad (1997)
This Steven Spielberg-directed historical drama was based on the events of 1839 on the Spanish slave ship La Amistad, where men, abducted for transport into the slave trade, gain control of the ship they are being transported on. It also followed the subsequent legal battle. Matthew plays eccentric attorney Roger Sherman Baldwin, who helps to represent the African men in their battle for freedom.
U-571 (2000)
This World War II drama concerns German U-boat U-571, which carries an Engima machine coding device, and American attempts to steal it. Matthew plays Lieutenant Tyler, the executive officer of the S-33 US Navy submarine that intercepts the U-571 and tries to take it over, but it doesn’t go according to plan and Tyler has, with his remaining crew, try to rescue the situation.
The Wedding Planner (2001)
Back in familiar romantic comedy territory, The Wedding Planner sees Matthew star alongside Jennifer Lopez. Matthew plays paediatrician Steve, who rescues wedding planner Mary Fiore (Lopez) from being hit by a dumpster. But when the pair are getting close, it is revealed he already has a fiancé – one that Mary is working on planning a wedding for. But, of course, nothing is ever simple – will their tangled love lives unwind in a satisfactory way?
Magic Mike (2012)
This comedy drama about male strippers was a vehicle for Channing Tatum – who plays the titular character – and loosely based on his experiences. Matthew plays Dallas, a former stripper turned strip club owner, who becomes Mike’s boss. Dallas is driven and greedy, which ends up pushing his employees away.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
This is the movie that brought Matthew a slew of awards, including the Best Actor Oscar. In the movie, inspired by real-life events, Matthew plays Ron Woodroof, a cowboy in the mid-1980s who is diagnosed with AIDS – a time when the condition is poorly understood and subject to stigma. Ron smuggles unapproved drugs into Texas to treat his condition, and fellow people with AIDS. The drugs help to keep Ron alive, and he goes on a journey of progression, changing his views on certain groups – but also helping to change AIDS drug policy too.
Interstellar (2014)
Back to sci-fi again in this Christopher Nolan-directed movie, Matthew starred as Joseph ‘Coop’ Cooper, a widowed NASA pilot who, after becoming a farmer is brought back to pilot the ship on a mission to take a group of astronauts through a wormhole near Saturn to search for a new home for mankind as Earth is suffering from a catastrophic famine.
Sing (2016)
Matthew’s voice talents were showcased in this animated film from 2016. He voiced Buster in this and the sequel. Buster is an ambitious koala who owns a struggling theatre who stages a singing competition to raise money and save the theatre from closing.
The Sing crew, including Matthew, were reunited in 2024 for a spooky short in 2024. Read more about that here.
