Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first success as a leading man came in the legal drama A Time to Kill (1996). His career progressed with lead roles in the science fiction film Contact (1997), the historical drama Amistad (1997), and the war film U-571 (2000).
McConaughey in 2019
McConaughey in 2008, participating in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon
McConaughey at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011
McConaughey at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Dazed and Confused (film)
Dazed and Confused is a 1993 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film follows a variety of teenagers on the last day of school in Austin, Texas in 1976. The film has no single protagonist or central conflict, rather following interconnected plot threads among different social groups and characters, such as rising ninth graders undergoing hazing rituals, a football star's refusal to sign a clean living pledge for his coach, and various characters hanging out at a pool hall. The film features a large ensemble cast of actors who would later become stars, including Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Nicky Katt, Joey Lauren Adams, and Rory Cochrane.
Theatrical release poster
A selection of the film's cast. Clockwise from top left: Matthew McConaughey, Jason London, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich
Dazed and Confused was director Richard Linklater's first studio production. Jim Jacks and Sean Daniels contacted Linklater after watching his previous feature, Slacker.
Jason London (pictured in 2008) drew on his own experiences of growing up and playing football in small-town Oklahoma to portray and develop Randall "Pink" Floyd's frustration.