Matthew McConaughey, 55, is reminiscing about his late father James, recalling how his father’s death in his early 20s left him feeling like his “safety net had gone.”
The actor recently took a trip down memory lane in a conversation with Interview magazine, reflecting on James’s passing from a fatal heart attack at the age of 63.
“Well, when my father moved on, it was obviously hard because I didn’t even think he was killable, you know?,” he shared with Maze Runner star Jacob Lofland.
“Through the mourning and the pain, it’s the biggest moment of becoming a man. I remember feeling like, ‘There’s a certain safety net that I’ve always had behind me that’s gone.'”
The Rivals of Amziah King actor noted, “Because dads are, like, they’re above the law,” recalling how he subsequently became more “courageous” in his life and adopted a more direct approach than he might have while his father was alive.
“Yeah. I remember, though, gaining a lot of courage. There were things I was doing that he had taught me how to do, but I was kind of half-assing them, because I felt like, ‘Well, the real dude’s right behind me’. His moving on kind of gave me a kick in the caboose to have courage.”
Matthew—who shares children Levi, 16, Vida, 15, and Livingston, 12, with his wife Camila—also believes that becoming a father himself helped him move forward.
“That’s a painful but beautiful side about fathers moving on. The next thing that was seminal in my life that you might find down the line is having children,” the actor added.
