Matthew McConaughey on Why He Didn't Run for Texas Governor: 'Not the Category for Me'
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Matthew McConaughey says his family obligations played a large role in his decision to hit pause on his political aspirations.
The actor, 52, opened up about his choice not to run for governor of Texas while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday. McConaughey, who initially teased a potential run in March, announced in November that he would not be pursuing politics.
When host Jimmy Fallon asked McConaughey to "walk us through" his decision not to become a candidate, the Sing 2 star replied, "Whew. Well, it was a two-year consideration that I came to the decision really over the last couple of months."
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He continued, "And I was asking myself the original question and trying to answer, 'How and where and what can I do to be most useful?' To myself, to my family and to the most amount of people. The … category of politics came up and it's a privileged one that I gave great consideration to."
McConaughey said that his family — specifically his three children, Levi, 13, Vida, 11, and Livingston, 8, with wife Camila Alves McConaughey — factored heavily into his ultimate decision.
"At this point in my life with the things — I've got a 13-year-old, an 11-year-old, an 8-year-old. The life I'm living right now, the storytelling I want to keep doing, it's not the category for me at this point in my life," he said.
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When Fallon, 47, asked if he is "still not ruling out future" political ambitions, McConaughey replied, "I'm not until I am," adding, "Someone told me that was a very McConaughey answer the other day."
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His latest comments come after McConaughey said in September that he would eventually enter politics "in some capacity," but not necessarily in a traditional sense.
"I'm measuring it," he said on an episode of Midland's podcast Set It Straight: Myths and Legends. "Look, it's going to be in some capacity. I'm more of a folk-singing, philosopher, poet-statesman than I am per-se definitive politician, so I go, 'Well that's a reason not to,' and then I go, 'No, that's exactly why you should, because politics needs redefinition.' "
In a separate appearance on The Carlos Watson Show in May, McConaughey said he is "not interested in going and putting a bunch of Band-Aids on that are going to be ripped off as soon as I'm out," speaking of his potential run in politics.
He explained, "I'm interested in building something that can last and I'm measuring what category that is, I don't know if that's politics."
