The role Matthew McConaughey took instead of becoming a monk: “A philanthropic choice”
No two actors’ careers are ever the same, but Matthew McConaughey really has had one of the most unique paths to superstardom. After a minuscule role in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, the smooth-talking Texan started to establish himself as a leading man, before drifting into relative obscurity. Just when it seemed like he would stay a romcom star for the rest of his life, he rediscovered his prestige form, sparking the delightfully labelled ‘McConaissance’. He’s come a long way since he first started talking about college girls.
One of the biggest movies in the ‘McConaissance’ was the 2013 sci-fi epic Interstellar. As an astronaut searching for a new home for the human race, the actor wowed audiences – and director Christopher Nolan – with a deeply personal performance that anchored some of the bigger ideas of the piece. However, this wasn’t the first time McConaughey had appeared in a celebrated science fiction movie.
In 1997, the future True Detective star appeared in the Robert Zemeckis movie Contact. Based on the novel of the same name by pioneering astronomer Carl Sagan, the film details the discovery of extraterrestrial life and the decisions made surrounding who should be the first person to talk to them. McConaughey plays Palmer Joss, a philosopher and member of a panel drawn up to select humanity’s first alien ambassador. He comes into direct conflict with Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster), his former girlfriend, whom he believes shouldn’t be assigned the role because of her lack of religion.
The movie found multiple audiences upon its release. Not only was it a critical and commercial success, but it was also lauded by NASA as being one of the most scientifically accurate space films ever produced, spare a few minor quibbles. The decision to focus on alien life’s impact on humanity, rather than the other way, was very different to the traditional sci-fi mould, and pre-configured the likes of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival by almost two decades. As it turns out, Contact also played a major role in the life of one of its stars.
Speaking to Vulture as part of an oral history of the project, McConaughey revealed that he was at something of a crossroads in 1997. “I went on a little spiritual walkabout for 22 days with myself in Peru. I’ve always been a believer. I had spent time in my life considering being a monk,” he revealed. “I came back, and that’s when I made the decisions to do Amistad and Contact… I felt it was a philanthropic choice, I dare to say. The fact that it proposed this paradox between science and religion, between science and belief, between science and faith, was a subject that I’d been interested in all my life. I wrote papers about it in college. My belief has always been that science is the practical pursuit of God.”
Amistad, the other movie mentioned by McConaughey, is a slave trade drama directed by Stephen Spielberg. Between this and Contact, it’s clear that McConaughey felt like he needed to make movies about important issues at this point in his career.
Regardless of how he arrived there, Contact remains one of the most underappreciated parts of McConaughey’s filmography. If you only know him from his modern ventures, then it’s definitely worth turning back the clock and giving it a go.
