Originally Posted by
Still Servant
This still somewhat pertains to the Oscars, so I will put it here.
Matthew McConaughey just won his first Oscar after putting together a great year with a small, but memorable role in The Wolf of Wall Street. A great performance in Mud and of course his Oscar winning performance in The Dallas Buyers Club where he literally transformed himself. That's just on the big screen. As we speak, McConaughey is turning in a powerhouse performance on a weekly basis on HBO's True Detective. His Emmy is surely already being carved.
McConaughey's rise from rom-com purgatory, to awards season staple even has its own name - mcconaissance. With all that being said, it didn't just happen over night. McConaughey has put together a bunch of strong performances that deserve some attention.
If I had to pinpoint a film where Matt started his rise, it would be 2008's Tropic Thunder. That's right, a comedy. McConaughey plays Ben Stiller's cooky agent that will stop at nothing to get his client TiVo. You could make a case that Matt already had a mcconaissance back in 2011. He turned to familiar ground as a lawyer in the criminally underrated Lincoln Lawyer. 2011 also included to Indy films. Bernie, where Matt turns in another strong supporting character performance and Killer Joe. In Killer Joe, McConaughey does some of his best work in years.
Now that McConaughey is hot, I hope people will go back and watch some of these films. McConaughey's rise didn't happen over night. It's been a few years of smart script choices and strong performances.