Matthew McConaughey has revealed that he turned down playing the part of Joel Miller in “The Last of Us”. The role ended up going to actor Pedro Pascal and the TV show ultimately achieved major levels of success. Speaking on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, 90s star Matthew shared why he turned the role down and whether he now regrets doing so looking back.
Why Did Matthew McConaughey Turn Down The Role?
GettyMatthew shared that the reason he turned down the TV role was because he was choosing to focus more on other things at the time when the part came up. He explained: “I think that’s part of when I was doing more writing and looking at leadership roles in life and stuff.”
He did note that he was really fond of the script for the show and the part, adding: “I’m not a huge TV watcher, but we pulled off a real coup with True (Detective) at a time when series were not something that actors like myself (or) Woody Harrelson would hop over and go do. And that one succeeded in a real royal fashion.
“The Last Of Us was really good. It just wasn’t for me, at the time. I don’t know what would have been for me at the time.”
Craig Mazin, the producer of “The Last of Us”, previously appeared on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast and spoke about contacting Matthew about the part. Though it appears Pedro was always the hope for the part. He said: “It was more like a ‘Hey, here’s something to talk about.’ Initially, Pedro was on our list from the start. We were told that he was unavailable.
“And then, as we were floundering about a little bit, I got a call from his agent, who said, ‘You know, he actually might be available.’”
Matthew McConaughey in Mexico
During that same podcast Matthew opened up about how Jennifer Lopez saved him from getting in trouble with a pair of police officers in Mexico. The wacky story sounds like something unreal, but he still looks back with gratitude that he thought on his feet and JLo’s name held so much gravity in a sticky situation.
Matthew explained: “Wedding Planner got me out of a major mess-up in Mexico one time. I pulled in one late night. I’m crossing the border, going way down south, and I get pulled over.
“I’m like, ‘Oh geez, get the wallet out. Here we go. But I brought up, ‘You guys know Jennifer Lopez?’ Ever see Wedding Planner?”
The officers then began to recognize Matthew and he clarified it by saying: “Yeah, yeah, it was me.”
Matthew then noticed the atmosphere of the interaction completely shift and the officers then became excited to be speaking with him. “They were like, ‘Ohhh,’” he recalled. “And we end up taking pictures together, and they let me go.”
“The Wedding Planner” was a great success back in 2001 following the budding romance between Mary Fiore (Jennifer Lopez) and Doctor Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey).
