McConaughey says he ran into a fortune teller on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard who told him to take the part.
Matthew McConaughey agreed to his now-iconic How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days role after a fortune teller convinced him to say yes, he revealed this week.
In the hit 2003 rom com, McConaughey plays Ben, the leading man to Kate Hudson's Andie. The film turned 20 last month, but Andie and Ben remain steadfastly established in the hearts of millions, and recently experienced a rediscovery among younger fans thanks in part to a viral TikTok trend featuring the film's rendition of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain."
Despite its unflappable legacy, the film wasn't a sure shot at success from its inception, and it took several tries to get the right cast together. In an oral history from Vanity Fair this week, voices of the cast and crew recall McConaughey's indecision over accepting role.
"I remember considering whether I was going to do it or not one night while on a walk down Sunset Boulevard when suddenly, this guy comes up out of nowhere to me," McConaughey says.
"He was a fortune teller guru [and] goes, 'Can I tell you your fortune real quick?' I was like, 'Yeah, man. Sure.' He immediately goes, 'There’s a movie you're considering right now. It's a romantic comedy. You have to do this or it will be one of the biggest regrets of your life. It is going to be a blast, it is going to be an incredible experience and it is going to make a bunch of money.' I remember thinking, Did the studio hire this guy? I laughed at the thought, but I also remember taking a more serious consideration. I think I even accepted the offer the next day," McConaughey shares.
At the time, Hudson had already been cast as Andie, and was working with the film's producing team to find the right man.
"We were looking at guys and kept going back and forth about who would be the right guy," Hudson remembers. "The guy for me was really important. Matthew came up in a meeting and I thought that was a great idea. I loved his energy. We immediately just got along."
"I'm like, 'Well, Matthew McConaughey is so Texan, but it’s kind of genius,'" Lybda Obst, the movie's producer, recalls.
McConaughey says he'll always remain grateful for the mysterious fortune teller that day. "It's really fun as the audience member to be in on the joke with one character while the other one is not. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days has so much fun audience engagement and participation in this way," he says.
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