Because, why not? Matthew McConaughey has come a long way from his Dazed and Confused days, but the Hollywood A-lister still knows how to have a good time — behind closed doors. In a new interview with GQ, the 44-year-old actor admits that he still keeps up with a certain activity that once got him into big trouble.
“Of course I still play the congas naked,” the actor tells the mag in its Men of the Year issue. “I just close the windows.”
In October 1999, the Texas native was arrested when a neighbor called to complain about loud music coming from his home. When police arrived, they found the blonde hunk naked while playing his drums. He was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and fined $50 for the noise.
Now a father of three and married to Camila Alves, McConaughey can still poke fun of himself, but admits that he decided to “go in the shadows” that same year.
“I got much more selfish,” he revealed. “When I say I have gotten a lot more selfish, I mean I am less concerned with what people think of me. I’m not worried about how I’m perceived. Selfish has always gotten a bad rap. You should do for you. I wanted new experiences.”
He added: “I was enjoying myself. My relationship with acting was fine. But like in any relationship, you need to shake things up. It didn’t mean what we’d been doing was less than. I just wanted a charge. Like, ‘Let’s throw a spark into this.'”
And he did. After a two-year break from acting, the star returned with well-received projects like Lincoln Lawyer, Magic Mike, and now Dallas Buyers Club. In the Oscar-buzzed film, McConaughey plays Ron Woodruff, a real-life drug addict who became an AIDS activist after being diagnosed with the disease in the mid-80s.
For the role, the actor drastically slimmed down to a mere 135 pounds. “Get. Relative,” he said of dropping the weight. “I was saying to myself, ‘Well, it’s not like you are in a concentration camp. You’re eating, but you’re not starving. So eff you, McConaughey.’ I got relative.”
