Matthew McConaughey is still raking in residuals from one of his most famous movies.
The “True Detective” actor admitted that “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” his hit 2003 movie co-starring Kate Hudson, is “the gift that keeps on giving.”
McConaughey said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast on Thursday it’s “probably my favorite rom-com that I’ve ever done and a lot of people love that rom-com.”
“And it still pays the best mailbox money of any film I’ve ever done,” he shared. “By far. By lengths.”
He even clarified that there’s a particular time of year when his checks used to be greater than average.
“When it used to be just DVDs or cable, every March I’d get a big check because Valentine’s Day,” McConaughey said.
And while the actor certainly appreciates money, he once revealed that he turned down an eye-watering sum in order to focus on more serious roles.
“I was getting quantity, but I wasn’t getting the quality,” he said on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast last year, referencing the jobs he was being offered after a string of successful rom-coms. “What I want to do is dramas, but Hollywood won’t offer me one, no matter how big a pay cut I take.”
When the industry wasn’t taking him seriously, he said he decided “to quit doing what I’ve been doing.”
“Told my agent, ‘No more rom-coms,’” McConaughey said.
But after a period of no acting, an incredible offer came his way for an action comedy and an offer of $8 million.
“I read it. I said, ‘No, thank you, that’s the stuff I’m not doing,’” he recalled. “They come back with a $10 million offer, ‘I’m not reading that again, no thank you.’ They come back with a $12 million offer. ‘Guys, tell them I said no thanks.’”
“They come back with a $14.5 million offer. I said, ‘Let me read that again,’” McConaughey said with a laugh.
He “ultimately said no,” and later carved a path as a dramatic actor.
“I think that me saying no to that $14.5 million offer, a year into me leaving and saying ‘no more rom-coms,’ I think me doing that sent the message through Hollywood, ‘Oh ― McConaughey is not bluffing,’” he said.
