When you think of Hollywood megastars, Matthew McConaughey is one of the first people that comes to mind.
But it might come as a surprise to his fans that the American actor, 55, also has little-known ties to Australia.
Long before coming a global icon, Matthew lived in Australia as an 18-year-old exchange student.
He had been hoping for a Sydney surfing adventure, but actually ended up living in Warnervale on the NSW Central Coast.
Speaking to Stellar, Matthew told how he lived with a kind but strict family who enforced a tight curfew.
Unlike his life as a straight-A student back in the States, he worked as a lawyer’s assistant and a ANZ bank teller during his stint Down Under.
Despite the challenges, Matthew insisted the “priceless” experience made him the person he is today.
“I learnt a lot about myself and who I wanted to be,” he told the publication.
“Those are priceless memories and lessons that I needed at that time in my life.
“I wouldn’t say I’d change anything because, after all, living there made me who I am today, all those years later.”
Now, Matthew lives on a ranch outside Austin, Texas, with his wife Camila Alves and their three children – sons Levi, 17, and Livingston, 12; and daughter Vida, 15.
They relocated there from Malibu in 2014 and Matthew is determined to raise his children away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
It is not the first time Matthew has spoken of his ties to Australia, previously revealing he faked an Aussie accent for an entire year.
He made the hilarious confession while appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers back in 2016.
“Is it true you were one of those people who came back from abroad and you actually brought the accent back with you?” Matthew was asked.
To which he replied: “Damn right.”
Matthew admitted he adopted the accents because the “ladies” were “into it”.
‘There’s a lot of my fraternity brothers out there going, “You son of a b***h, you did fake that for a year!” he quipped.
Earlier this year, Matthew and his wife Camilla also launched their bespoke alcohol brand Pantalones Tequila down under.
