The 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' actor learned to keep some people 'at arm's length' after his mother spilled intimate details about him to the media.
- Oct 5, 2023
AceShowbiz - Matthew McConaughey cut off his mother for almost a decade. The 52-year-old actor found fame in the 1990s with roles in films like "A Time to Kill" and "Contact" but explained that because of his status, he and his mother Mary ended up becoming "estranged" for a period of time as she would spill intimate details about him to the media.
"I tried to change my mom. For eight years, her and I had an estranged relationship where I couldn't have more than a conversation of, 'Hi, Mom, doing good. Love you. Bye,' " he told host Jana Kramer when speaking on the "Whine Down" podcast.
"Anything she asked me, I couldn't tell her personally because she didn't have a governor, she'd go to the press. She showed up on [TV show] 'Hard Copy', taking people to my childhood room, showing people, 'This is where he lost his virginity.' There were years where I could not talk to her. I tried to change her. I need just a mom right now, not a fan and I didn't have it."
The "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" star went on to add that he tested his mother by seeing just how much personal information she would share about him as he added that there are still some people in his life that he prefers to keep "at arm's length" and only sees occasionally.
He added, "What I tried to pull off was I'm going to give you more information to see if I can trust you with it again. And it was like quit trying to prove that point, just don't give it to them. Don't give them that much. That's where our relationship is, and let's make it healthy and fun with what our relationship can handle."
"There's a lot of people, friends and relationships in my life that I think are better, that I have at an arm's length. We don't need full, all detail, all access intimacy with all people in our life. There's some people I like running into, that's where we're best."
