He was once so stoned he missed his own birthday party, but the Oscar-winning actor has swapped pot for poetry. He reveals the trauma and triumph that taught him why it’s more important to be a good man than a nice guy
“Simon!” Matthew McConaughey barks. “How do, sir?!” Matthew McConaughey could not be more Matthew McConaughey if he tried. And he’s only said four words. Charming, sincere, intense, 100% Texan and 101% eccentric.
Five years ago, the Oscar-winning actor wrote a memoir called Greenlights. It wasn’t a conventional memoir, more a collection of life lessons, bullet-point anecdotes and gnomic philosophies. Now he has written a book of poetry called Poems & Prayers. For McConaughey, the two are interchangeable. It’s another memoir of sorts – this time, a portrait of his faith and its impact on his everyday life. In it he addresses faith in the broadest sense. There’s plenty of talking to God as he searches for the divine in himself, loads of Amens, but it’s also about faith in himself, his family, his career, the world, the works.
