Matthew McConaughey on his two-year hiatus from Hollywood: "It was scary"

Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey shared that “it was scary” quitting Hollywood for two years when romantic comedies were all that was being offered to him early in his career. The actor was speaking to Glen Powell in an Interview magazine discussion. McConaughey has worked on romantic comedies such as The Wedding Planner, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Failure To Launch, Fool's Gold, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. “I have usually zigged when I felt like Hollywood wanted me to zag,” McConaughey said, reports variety.com.

“When I had my rom-com years, there was only so much bandwidth I could give to those and those were some solid hits for me. But I wanted to try some other stuff. Of course, I wasn't getting it, so I had to leave Hollywood for two years.”

“Dude, it was scary. I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation. I think I'm going to teach high school classes. I think I'm going to study to be a conductor. I think I'm going to go be a wildlife guide.” He added: “I honestly thought, ‘I stepped out of Hollywood. I got out of my lane.'”

“The lane Hollywood said I should stay in, and Hollywood's like, “You should have stayed in your lane. … It was scary. The days are long — the sense of insignificance. But I made up my mind that that's what I needed to do, so I wasn't going to pull the parachute and quit the mission I was on. But it was scary because I didn't know if I was ever going to get out of the desert.”

The actor then moved into more dramatic roles in movies such as Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, Magic Mike and Interstellar. He won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club.