{"id":644851,"date":"2026-05-15T14:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/644851\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:37:08","slug":"mcconaughey-exiled-himself-from-hollywood-lived-in-peru-without-electricity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/644851\/","title":{"rendered":"McConaughey Exiled Himself From Hollywood, Lived in Peru Without Electricity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMatthew McConaughey<\/a> revealed on the\u00a0\u201cNo Magic Pill\u201d podcast<\/a>\u00a0(via People<\/a>) that he once exiled himself from Hollywood and lived without electricity for 22 days in Peru when the pressures of early fame became too much for him to handle. He exclusively went by Mateo during this period as to further disassociate himself from his celebrity status.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI needed to get my feet on the ground,\u201d McConaughey said. \u201cSo 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. But I did question, now that I just got famous, I\u2019ve got all this affiliation for this and that and the other. And I\u2019m trying to decipher which part\u2019s real, which part\u2019s bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first 12 days of McConaughey\u2019s pilgrimage were \u201cwonky\u201d but the back half proved enlightening for him, he explained: \u201cI was now at the place long enough to go, \u2018I could live this. This could be my existence.\u2019 As soon as you go, \u2018I could do this,\u2019 then you\u2019re like, \u2018Well, I can return home.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI needed to meet people who knew me as Mateo,\u201d McConaughey added. \u201cAnd 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. It reaffirmed my own identity that, \u2018Oh, I still got it. This is based on me.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMcConaughey\u2019s Peru exodus was in the early days of his stardom. He would exile himself from Hollywood again years later by moving his family to Texas after he grew frustrated with the town for limiting his acting career to rom-coms after becoming a household name in hits like \u201cThe Wedding Planner,\u201d \u201cHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days\u201d and more. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Oscar winner said in an Interview magazine discussion\u00a0<\/a>last year that \u201cit was scary\u201d to leave Hollywood while his career was so successful. He even thought that moving to Texas would mean he would need to find a new job.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think I\u2019m going to teach high school classes. I think I\u2019m going to study to be a conductor. I think I\u2019m going to go be a wildlife guide,\u201d the actor said, adding that his decision to then turn down a $14.5 million rom-com offer is what told Hollywood he was not messing around. \u201cThat was probably seen as the most rebellious move in Hollywood by me because it really sent the signal, \u2018He ain\u2019t fucking bluffing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n