Highlights
- Matthew McConaughey refuses to be called anything other than his full name, Matthew, due to his mother’s strict rule from when he was in kindergarten.
- McConaughey had a troubled relationship with his mother for eight years, as she often shared private information with the media without his consent.
- After his issues with his mother, McConaughey now focuses on his own family and received the nickname “Captain Fun” from them during his weight gain for a film role.
Matthew McConaughey has grown accustomed to answering to the name ‘Matthew’ and nothing else; not Matt nor Matty. Most fans relate to McConaughey’s line of thought, as they often identify with a particular name. Some nicknames just don’t stick. Some people get offended for not pronouncing their names right and will even call you out for making the mistake.
Is it out of habit or just being stubborn? Well, McConaughey has good reason for sticking to his first name, and most fans found it hilarious.
Matthew McConaughey’s Mom’s Rule Is Behind His Refusal To Be Called “Matt”
Kay McConaughey had a strict rule for young Matthew
Matthew McConaughey will not answer to Matt regardless of the situation.
As it turns out, there’s a biblical explanation for ignoring ‘Matt.’ The Greenlights author disclosed the secret while visiting Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his film, Gold. Jimmy couldn’t wait to shoot the question everyone had been asking themselves. “Does anybody ever call you Matt, or is it always Matthew?” Kimmel asked McConaughey.
McConaughey didn’t hesitate to say, “It’s always been Matthew, for a good reason.” Matthew McConaughey then went on to narrate the life-changing occasion that led him to reject all nicknames; his mom’s rule.
“My mom was mad when I got called Matt. I was in kindergarten, my mom’s a kindergarten teacher.” At that moment, fans, including Kimmel, already related to Matthew’s situation because moms are scary, especially if they are teachers.
McConaughey continued, “My buddy John says, ‘Hey Matt, wanna go play on the monkey bars?’ I said yeah, and halfway to the monkey bars, I feel this hand on my shoulder.”
Matthew continues while throwing a few hand expressions, “Wham! Bam! Slammed to the ground, I look up, it’s my mother in my face, and she’s like, ‘What are you doing?’
With the innocent voice and face of a child, Matthew responded to his mother and said he was going with his buddy to play on the monkey bars. The staunch teacher that Matthew’s mother is looked at her son and asked, “Who is?” McConaughey answered, “I am.”
Matthew’s mother asked, “What is your name?” and the True Detective star answered, “Matthew!” The actor’s mother told him never to respond to the name Matt again because she named him Matthew from the Bible.
It was at that particular moment that McConaughey took the bold step to never answer to ‘Matt’ ever again in his lifetime.
Matthew McConaughey Had A Troubled Relationship With His Mother
McConaughey’s mom tried to control more than her son’s nickname
“Mothers are always right,” they say; but are they? Matthew McConaughey revealed that he had a troubled relationship with his mother, Kay McConaughey. While speaking on Whine Down With Jana Kramer, McConaughey disclosed that he and his mother had been in a strange relationship for eight years.
The two didn’t talk much, and their conversations weren’t open. The Sing voice actor struggled to connect with his mother. They had weird conversations that couldn’t string together meaningful connections and therein lay the problem.
Apparently, Kay McConaughey couldn’t keep family secrets despite seeing that her son was always in the spotlight. She would always be excited to spill out private information to the media for popularity mileage. This didn’t sit well with her son. Matthew resorted to keeping a distance from his mother to protect his family from public scrutiny.
Mother and son have since patched up things, although there is much to improve on. It didn’t come as a surprise when Matthew’s wife, Camila, opened up about her troubled relationship with her mother-in-law, Kay.
She said that Kay didn’t approve of their relationship at first. They had trouble getting along. According to Camila, Matthew’s mother could randomly call her by Matthew’s ex-girlfriends’ names just to spite her.
She even hinted at Kay being racist towards her. Without a doubt, it wasn’t easy fitting into Kay McConaughey’s family — and even McConaughey himself was stuck with his mom’s name rule well into adulthood.
Matthew McConaughey Focuses On His Own Family Now
After all the issues with his own mom, Matthew seems to be focusing on his wife and kids
The Dallas Buyers Club star and Oscar winner revealed that he once accepted a nickname from his family. Even Kay wasn’t going to stop him from enjoying this new nickname. Matthew McConaughey lost about 40 pounds when preparing for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, where he played a man diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
Three years later, McConaughey had to put on a lot of pounds for his Gold role. He portrayed the character Kenny Willis, who helps his father run a prospecting company and consequently finds gold in the jungles of Indonesia.
Matthew appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and spoke about his role on Gold. He appeared on the big screen and said, “That’s a whole lot of McConaughey.” He was indeed huge. Matthew McConaughey revealed that his family nicknamed him ‘Captain Fun’ because they ate pizza almost every night to help him put on the pounds.
No word on whether Matthew’s strict mom would have a problem with that nickname.
Source: NewsFinale
