{"id":158965,"date":"2025-09-21T09:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T09:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/158965\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T09:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T09:54:08","slug":"matthew-mcconaughey-says-he-was-lucky-to-escape-after-being-abducted-in-his-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/158965\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew McConaughey says he was lucky to escape after being abducted in his teens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/matthew-mcconaughey\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew McConaughey<\/a> has recalled being abducted as a teenager, saying he was lucky to get away alive.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/news\/matthew-mcconaughey-movies-age-romcom-b2565728.html\">Oscar-winning actor<\/a> revealed <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/news\/matthew-mcconaughey-sexual-assault-memoir-book-read-greenlights-b1206333.html\">in his 2020 book Greenlights<\/a> that he was knocked unconscious and taken to the back of a van where he was sexually assaulted by a man when he was 18.<\/p>\n<p>The star, whose credits include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/interstellar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Interstellar<\/a> and Dallas Buyers Club, said he has never felt as helpless as he did in that moment, stating in a new interview: \u201cI\u2019ve never felt so vulnerable and unable to do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McConaughey, 55, was able to escape after waking up \u201cright before it could have been worse\u201d, with the star telling <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2025\/sep\/20\/matthew-mcconaughey-interview-faith-fame-shocking-incident-that-defined-him\">The Guardian<\/a>: \u201cTalk about divine intervention. I got out relatively unscathed. It could have been worse is what I\u2019m saying.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He said the nightmare experience, which he escaped from, was defining in ways he doesn\u2019t even understand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid it crush some innocence of mine? That my nice guy, young Matthew, believed in the innocence of the world and no one would try to do harm to me or anyone else unless I provoked it? Sure.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in the interview, McConaughey said he doesn\u2019t know what to believe anymore when it comes to politics \u2013\u00a0and that Trump\u2019s disregard for the truth concerns him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been around politics and politicians enough to see and hear that the score is not always what they say it is; that they don\u2019t keep the score accurately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that\u2019s nothing new, either. You can go back and there are many things to question over decades and centuries about what the truth was. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u2019s going about things in a different way than other politicians have. It\u2019s direct. He\u2019s cutting out the middle man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758448448_568_newFile-2.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Matthew mcCaonughey was abducted and assaulted when he was 18\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/>Matthew mcCaonughey was abducted and assaulted when he was 18 (Getty Images for IMDb)<\/p>\n<p>The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor recently reflected on his decision to quit acting for two years because of the romantic comedies he repeatedly got offered.<\/p>\n<p>McConaughey shot to fame after appearing in the courtroom drama A Time to Kill in 1996, and became one of the most illustrious leading stars of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/features\/romantic-comedies-best-ranked-phildalphia-story-b2394494.html\">romantic comedies in the 2000s<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Among his credits are The Wedding Planner (2001) co-starring Jennifer Lopez, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), which he starred in alongside <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/kate-hudson\">Kate Hudson<\/a>, and Failure to Launch (2006) with Sarah Jessica Parker.<\/p>\n<p>After a solid decade of starring in these films, though, McConaughey, 54, had had enough \u2013 and considered changing professions over fears he was typecast.<\/p>\n<p>McConaughey described the acting break as \u201cscary\u201d, and said he considered teaching high school or becoming a wildlife guide as he \u201cstepped out of Hollywood\u201d and had \u201cgot out of my lane\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>However, he secured a series of more serious roles, which led to what was branded by film critic Mark Kermode as the McConaissance.<\/p>\n<p>He turned his career around after starring in William Friedkin\u2019s Killer Joe, Richard Linklater\u2019s Bernie, Jeff Nichols\u2019s Mud and Steven Soderbergh\u2019s Magic Mike.<\/p>\n<p>The actor also won the Academy Award for Best Actor with his performance in Dallas Buyers Club.<\/p>\n<p>Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rapecrisis.org.uk\">www.rapecrisis.org.uk<\/a>. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-158965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}