How George Clooney and Alec Baldwin gave Matthew McConaughey a huge break in TV
The Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has a well-furnished trophy cabinet he’s worked exceedingly hard to adorn over the past three decades. With career-defining appearances in movies such as 1996’s A Time to Kill, Mud, Interstellar and his Academy Award-winner Dallas Buyers Club, he’s now regarded as one of the finest leading men in Hollywood. It appears McConaughey has George Clooney and Alec Baldwin to thank for his early exposure.
One of McConaughey’s early breaks came in 2000 when he was cast in the third season of the immensely popular series Sex and the City. The show debuted on HBO in 1998, starring Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, a writer in New York looking for love. Bradshaw’s friends included Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones, Kristin Davis as Charlotte York, and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes.
Over the course of the series, Bradshaw is seen dating several men, offering a guest star opportunity to several male actors over the years. Besides McConaughey, David Duchovny, Jon Bon Jovi and Bradley Cooper also made notable guest appearances.
According to Marie Claire, the role McConaughey played – a fictionalised version of himself – wasn’t initially written with him in mind. The macho role was allegedly offered first to Alec Baldwin, who duly turned it down. The showrunners then offered the part to George Clooney and Warren Beatty before they landed on their fourth option, McConaughey.
The original Sex and the City series came to an end in 2004 after six years. However, the universe returned by popular demand for two movies and the prequel series The Carrie Diaries. The prequel series was cancelled after just two seasons, and following the poor reception of Sex and the City 2, a planned third move was axed in 2017.
“I’m disappointed,” Parker told Extra at the time. “We had this beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, joyful, very relatable script and story. It’s not just disappointing that we don’t get to tell the story and have that experience, but more so for that audience that has been so vocal in wanting another movie.”
In 2021, a new Sex and the City revival was announced. And Just Like That… was officially confirmed for HBO for a ten-episode run, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis. Last March, the successful sequel series was confirmed for a second season, set to air in June 2023.
Watch Matthew McConaughey in his iconic Sex and the City appearance below.
