Hollywood Popular Artists

Apr 25th 2013, 14:10

Only a handful of actors have ever had a writer craft a role with them in mind. That's what happened with Matthew McConaughey when "Take Shelter" director Jeff Nichols approached him about the title character, an outlaw with a heart of gold, in his new film "Mud."

When MTV News' Josh Horowitz spoke with McConaughey, he asked him how you approach a role that was made for you, and according to the actor, you try not to think about it too much.

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"I didn't consciously think about it when I got the script. For whatever reason, I didn't say, 'He wrote this for you, Matthew. Now, let's dig in and figure out why.' The only thing I can think of is to whatever level I was curious of that, the script had such an identity on its own that I was on the ride," McConaughey said.

It also helped that Mud, who the young leads find living on an island, isn't directly inspired by McConaughey and his life. "It obviously wasn't an autobiography, like 'This is who I think you are, Matthew McConaughey.' It's 'Matthew, I want you to be Mud in this story and be the guy that embodies Mud and takes us through this story.' I was on the ride with the story two pages in and never got off of that," McConaughey said. "That's a testament to the writing, I think."

"Mud" opens in theaters on April 26.

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