Matthew McConaughey reveals why he took the role in 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Just days before the 2003 romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days celebrates its 20th anniversary, Matthew McConaughey reveals the strange reason he accepted the role.

In December, the 53-year-old actor’s co-star Kate Hudson revealed that she “lobbied” for McConaughey to star opposite her, telling then-Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing that McConaughey was her “first choice.” to play Benjamin Barry. .

Still, even after being offered the role, she was unsure whether or not to accept the project, finally deciding after a chance encounter with a fortune teller.

“I remember considering whether or not I was going to do it one night as I was walking down Sunset Boulevard when all of a sudden this guy appeared out of nowhere – he was a fortune telling guru.” [and] says, “Can I tell you your fortune real quick?” McConaughey began.

‘I was like, ‘Yeah, man. Clear’. He immediately says, “There’s a movie you’re considering right now. It’s a romantic comedy. You have to do this or it’s going to be one of the biggest regrets of your life. It’s going to be great, it’s going to be an amazing experience, and it’s going to make a lot of money.” , said.

Pushed: In December, the 53-year-old actor’s co-star Kate Hudson revealed that she “pushed” for McConaughey to star opposite her, telling then-Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing that McConaughey was her “first option” to play. benjamin barry

The actor added: “I remember thinking: Did the studio hire this guy? I laughed at the idea, but I also remember considering it more seriously. I think I even accepted the offer the next day.

Hudson was already attached to the project before McConaughey, revealing that the idea of ​​playing alongside him immediately occurred to her.

‘We were looking for guys and kept going back and forth about who would be the right guy. The guy to me was really important,” Hudson said.

‘Matthew showed up at a meeting and I thought it was a great idea. I loved the energy of him. We immediately hit it off,” he added.

Once McConaughey was cast, that brought a new set of challenges, as director Donald Petrie explained.

“I went to the writers and said, ‘Okay, I have to come up with some kind of subtle explanation for why this guy is an advertising executive in Manhattan and yet he has this Texas accent,'” Petrie explained.

“So we took his father and made him a Navy guy, so he would have been stationed in different places around the world, and Celia Weston, who came in to play the mother, she’s a southerner,” he added.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days grossed $105.8 million domestically and $177.5 million worldwide on a budget of $50 million.

Accepted: The actor added, ‘I remember thinking: Did the studio hire this guy? I laughed at the idea, but I also remember considering it more seriously. I think I even accepted the offer the next day’

McConaughey also discussed his and Hudson’s now-famous pose on the poster, which he had noted had been copied many times since.

‘I’ll tell you something funny about the cartel. We found that pose where we were leaning back looking over our shoulders at each other,” she began.

“She’s wearing that long, elegant yellow dress, and I’m wearing a classic black tuxedo, back to back. It was the perfect pose to stage the movie,” she added.

“Now, if you notice, quite a few, and I’m in a couple of them, rom-coms reprized a version of that same dance for their billboards,” the actor said.

Poster: McConaughey also talked about his and Hudson’s now-famous pose on the poster, which he had noted had been copied many times since.