Matthew McConaughey isn’t going to run for Texas governor after all, and that’s alright, alright, alright with him.
The “True Detective” actor stopped by “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on Tuesday and explained why he’s not jumping into the race for now. But he’s also not completely ruling out a future career in politics.
“It was a two-year consideration that I came to the decision, really, over the last couple of months,” McConaughey said. “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. But, as he pointed out, he has three kids, ages 13, 11, and 8.
Watch the conversation on “The Tonight Show” below:
“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 added.
When Fallon asked if McConaughey was “still not ruling out the future,” the actor responded: “I’m not until I am.”
“Someone told me that was a very McConaughey answer the other day,” he quipped.
McConaughey had been teasing the possibility of running for governor since March, when he said it was “a true consideration.”
Last month, in a video he posted on Twitter, he backed away from the idea.
“As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership,” he said in the clip.
“It’s a humbling and inspiring path to ponder,“McConaughey explained. “It is also a path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment.”
Instead of running, McConaughey said he would “continue to work and invest the bounty I have by supporting entrepreneurs, businesses and foundations that I believe are leaders,” as well as “establishments that I believe are creating pathways for people to succeed in life.”
McConaughey has identified himself as somewhere “in the middle” politically, and explained during an appearance on Russell Brand’s podcast last year.
“I wanna say I’ll meet you in the middle,” the “Dallas Buyers Club” star said. “It’s a move to say, ‘No, let’s get aggressively centric. I dare you.’ It’s not a recession. It’s an aggressive move.”
