Why Matthew McConaughey disappeared in Peru for 22 days at the beginning of his career

Matthew McConaughey was on a hot streak in Hollywood after his breakthrough role in “Dazed and Confused.”

Matthew McConaughey at “The Rivals of Amziah King” Premiere during SXSW Conference & Festivals at the Paramount Theatre on March 10, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Michael Buckner/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)

But the actor admits he was feeling overwhelmed and decided to take a break after starring in 1996’s “A Time to Kill.”

He explained on the “No Magic Pill” podcast he went to Peru for 22 days to disconnect from Hollywood and went by the name Mateo.

“I needed to get my feet on the ground,” McConaughey said. “So I click out. Boom. Go to Peru. I needed to find it, to check the validation. I knew I had it, I just had to go prove it again.”

McConaughey continued, “But I did question, now that I just got famous, I’ve got all this affiliation for this and that and the other. And I’m trying to decipher which part’s real, which part’s bulls—.”

ATHENS, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 15: Actor Matthew McConaughey looks on before the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns at Sanford Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

The Oscar-winner said the first 12 days of the trip were “wonky,” but after that, things significantly improved.

“I was now at the place long enough to go, ‘I could live this. This could be my existence,” he said. “As soon as you go, ‘I could do this.’ Then you’re like, ‘Well, I can return home.’”

He continued, “And at the end of 22 days, the tears in their eyes and the tears in my eyes and the hugs we had on 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.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 12: Matthew McConaughey attends the premiere of Illumination’s “Sing 2” on December 12, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

The experience brought McConaughey back to himself.

“It reaffirmed my own identity that, ‘Oh, I still got it. This is based on me,’” the actor said.

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