Matthew McConaughey almost quit Hollywood during rom-com years, considered being wildlife guide

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Matthew McConaughey was not always sure his place was in Hollywood. 

Back when the star was best known for his romantic comedies like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "The Wedding Planner," he said he decided to take a break to rethink his career.

"I’ve usually zigged when I felt like Hollywood wanted me to zag," the 54-year-old told "Twisters" star Glen Powell for an article in Interview magazine. "When I had my rom-com years, there was only so much bandwidth I could give to those, and those were some solid hits for me. But I wanted to try some other stuff. Of course, I wasn’t getting it, so I had to leave Hollywood for two years."

McConaughey said the break was "scary," and he considered leaving acting altogether and starting over again in a completely different career.

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Matthew McConaughey was not always sure his place was in Hollywood. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

"I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation," he explained. "‘I think I’m going to teach high school classes. I think I’m going to study to be a conductor. I think I’m going to go be a wildlife guide.’" 

The actor married wife Camilla Alves in 2012, and they share three children together. 

The "Dallas Buyers Club" actor said he "honestly thought, ‘I stepped out of Hollywood. I got out of my lane.’ The lane Hollywood said I should stay in, and Hollywood’s like, ‘Well, f--- you, dude. You should have stayed in your lane. Later.’"

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Matthew McConaughey said he once rethought his career in Hollywood when he was mostly getting rom-com parts. He considered becoming a teacher, conductor or a wilderness guide. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for Wild Turkey)

He said, although the time off gave him a feeling of "insignificance," he knew that was what he needed to do, "so I wasn’t going to pull the parachute and quit the mission I was on. But it was scary, because I didn’t know if I was ever going to get out of the desert."

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Powell agreed that even though there are "ghost stories" about actors who took a break from the industry and never found their way back, it is still good to let Hollywood "miss you."

Matthew McConaughey with Jennifer Lopez in 2001's "The Wedding Planner." ( Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)

McConaughey, a Texas native, likened it to "lean horse, long ride."

He explained, "I don’t know about you, but for me, going back to ‘A Time to Kill,’ after I first had a big success in a major studio picture and became famous, I remembered that the Thursday before that movie opened, there’s 100 scripts out there that I would’ve done, and 99 of them I could not book. Over that one weekend, 99 noes became 99 yeses. I was like, ‘What? Three days ago, I’d have done any of these! And now you’re asking me which one I want to do?’ It was a hell of a shocking thing."

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Matthew McConaughey won his first Oscar in 2014 for "Dallas Buyers Club." (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

McConaughey said he then grabbed a backpack and headed off to Peru for three weeks, so he could "hear myself think." 

His last rom-com role was in 2009's "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," and by 2011, he was starring in "The Lincoln Lawyer." In 2014, he won his first Oscar for "Dallas Buyers Club." 

Matthew MacConaughey said he took long walks with wife Camila Alves to reconsider his career years ago. (Rick Kern/WireImage)

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Earlier in the interview, McConaughey professed, "Once I felt like I was in Hollywood, I felt comfortable enough to go back home. You can really be an honest observer of humans in Texas. It’s tough to do that in Hollywood, because everyone’s a voyeur. Instead of going someplace to eat, a lot of Hollywood’s going to that place to see who’s coming to that place to eat."