Matthew McConaughey is officially back. Well, technically he hasn't gone anywhere. But for a period in his career, McConaughey seemed set on doing rom-com after rom-com, burying the serious actor we witnessed in A Time to Kill in 1996. In 2009, after starring in the bomb that was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, he finally opened his eyes to the bullshit he was making and started taking roles in impressive movies—The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Killer Joe (2011), and Magic Mike (2012) to name a few.
In five years, McConaughey went from the broiest of bros to a serious Academy Award contender. And this weekend's Dallas Buyers Club, in which he plays the HIV-positive Ron Woodroff, just might clinch him a nomination.
But how did he go from being known as the guy whose penis Kate Hudson named "Princess Sophia" to the guy mentioned most on Oscar blogs? It wasn't easy. If Gerard Butler or Katherine Heigl would like some tips on being taken seriously, they need to follow the Matthew McConaughey method.