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Matthew McConaughey Took 22-Day Trip to Peru Early in Career
The 56-year-old actor left Hollywood for South America shortly after rising to fame, living without electricity for the first 12 days of the trip under the name Mateo. McConaughey described the experience as reaffirming his sense of self separate from celebrity. @Independent reported the details of his journey and later decision to leave Hollywood.
May 16, 7:51 AM·2m read1 source
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Matthew McConaughey traveled to Peru for 22 days early in his career after his rapid rise to fame left him seeking perspective. The 56-year-old actor, who rose to fame in the early Nineties, went to South America to get his feet on the ground and decipher which parts of his personality were real.
He lived with no electricity for the first 12 days of his 22-day trip to Peru and went by the name Mateo throughout the journey.
He soon found people in Peru who enlightened him and “reaffirmed” his identity. “I needed to meet people who knew me as Mateo,” McConaughey said on the No Magic Pill podcast. At the end of the 22 days his new friends’ eyes were filled with tears when they came to say goodbye.
“The hugs we had and the sadness and happiness of saying goodbye were all based off of the man they met named Mateo, who had nothing to do with the celebrity,” he said. McConaughey said the trip helped him reconnect with a version of himself unrelated to his emerging celebrity.
McConaughey had his breakthrough role in the 1993 comedy indie film Dazed and Confused. The star, who grew up in Uvalde, Texas, became a household name with hits including The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Years later he left Hollywood and returned to Texas after growing frustrated at being repeatedly cast in romantic comedies.
His career had begun to be limited by agents following those successes. McConaughey told Interview that “it was scary” to leave Hollywood while his stock was soaring. He said he thought his return to Texas would mean he’d face a career change.
