Matthew McConaughey revealed on the podcast No Magic Pill (via People) that he was once kicked out of Hollywood and lived without electricity for 22 days in Peru when the pressures of early fame became too much for him. During this period, he exclusively called himself Mateo to further distance himself from celebrity status.
“I needed to stay grounded,” McConaughey said. “So I clicked out. Boom. I go to Peru. I needed to find it to validate it. I knew I had it, I had to go prove it again. But I had doubts. I just got famous, so I have all the affiliation with this and that and the other thing. And I’m trying to decipher which parts are real and which parts are bullshit.”
The first 12 days of McConaughey’s pilgrimage were “shaky,” but the second half was enlightening for him, he explained. As soon as I think, “I can do this,” I think, “Okay, I can go home.” ”
“I got to meet people who knew me as Mateo,” McConaughey added. “And at the end of those 22 days, the tears in their eyes, the tears in mine, the hugs we shared with sadness and joy as we said goodbye, all of them were based on a man they met named Mateo and had nothing to do with celebrity. It reaffirmed my own identity: ‘Oh, I still get it. This is based on me.'”
McConaughey’s escape to Peru was in the early stages of his stardom. After becoming famous for hits like “The Wedding Planner” and “How to Win a Guy in 10 Days,” he became dissatisfied with Texas, which limited his acting career to romantic comedies, and was banished from Hollywood again a few years later.
The Oscar winner told Interview magazine last year that he was “scared” to leave Hollywood despite his successful career. He even thought he would have to look for a new job if he moved to Texas.
“I think I’m going to teach a high school class. I’m going to study to be a conductor. I think I’m going to be a wildlife guide,” the actor said, later adding that his decision to turn down a $14.5 million romantic comedy offer told Hollywood he wasn’t fooling around. “To me, that was probably the most rebellious move in Hollywood, because it really sent the signal, ‘He’s not bluffing.'”
