McConaughey revealed during a podcast appearance on Monday that it was a conversation with his then-4-year-old son that prompted him to finally get down on one knee.
“My son comes to me at 4 years old and says, ‘Why isn’t Mama a McConaughey?’” the actor shared on Chris Williamson’s “Modern Wisdom” podcast.
At the time, Alves and McConaughey had been together since 2006, and shared two children: a son, Levi, and a daughter, Vida.
“I’m going through my head, ‘You’re fucking 4, dude,’” McConaughey said. “It’s a great question, but I mean ― because we’re not married. When you get married, you switch your name.”
“And… all of a sudden he goes, ‘Are you scared?’” McConaughey said, repeating that his son was 4 years old at the time. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, I guess I am.’”
The “True Detective” star said that he turned to the church to help explore his relationship more.
“I remember going to a pastor and talking to a lot of different elder men who had had long-term relationships, were married for decades and stuff, and my pastor goes, ‘Let me just ask you this, Mr. Risk Taker. What’s the bigger risk?’” he recalled the pastor saying.
“I didn’t want to do it because that’s what you’re supposed to do,” he said. “It’s time. We’ve been dating for this long. We got engaged. I didn’t want to do it by the book.”
The two would go on to tie the knot in 2012, and then welcome their third child, Livingston, that same year.
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In a sweet Instagram post, Alves McConaughey wrote that she “never really understood the sacred meaning of marriage until I meet you…”
“To all other couples celebrating their anniversary take a pause to appreciate the meaning of why and how you came together,” she added.