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matthew mcconaughey

Pop Culture

Matthew McConaughey and Jimmy Fallon rapping 'Just Because' is the pep talk we all need

McConaughey woke up in the middle of the night with these verses and rhythm in his head and turned them into an inspirational book for kids.

Fallon Tonight/TikTok

"Just Because" is Matthew McConaughey's children's book filled with rhyming bits of wisdom.

At 2:30 a.m., actor Matthew McConaughey woke up from a dream with a jingle in his head. He got up, started writing it down, and just like that, a children's book was born.

McConaughey's picture book, "Just Because" may be for kids, but adults are finding inspiration for themselves in it as well. A viral video of McConaughey country-rapping the book's couplets with talk show host Jimmy Fallon got people talking about the lessons on the book that speak to them the most, such as the person who said they wanted a "Just because I want one more doesn't mean that I need two" sign for their refrigerator.

The "alright, alright, alright" actor and the famously musical Fallon start off just lowkey "reading" the book with a little background beat, but soon they each have a mic in their hands in a full-on performance.

With lines like, "Just because you can pull it off, doesn't mean that you should do it, and just because you fail that don't mean that you blew it," McConaughey and Fallon manage to make a sing-songy rap out of some genuinely good life lessons.

Watch:

@fallontonight

Jimmy and #MatthewMcConaughey rap their way through “Just Because”. #FallonTonight

So how did Matthew McConaughey end up writing a children's book in the first place? The father of three told the hosts of Podcrushed that he'd been thinking a lot about fatherhood and how the lens of parenthood changes everything. He said when something consumes his mind, he tends to have dreams about it.

"This was a dream I had, and I woke up at 2:30 in the morning, I went and wrote it down. All I had was the jingle, 'Just because they threw the dart don't mean that it stuck, and just because I got some skills don't mean that there's no luck.' It was a song. I woke up and I got this great Bob Dylan diddy: 'Just because you're wailing doesn't meant that you're a crier, just because I lied does not mean that I'm a liar.' And so the hook was 'just because,' and I had the beat, and I just wrote from 2:30 to 6:30 in the morning. Went back, got in bed. Got up and looked at it and was like, 'This is good. This is fun.'"

He showed the idea to his kids, who each had different takes on different couplets. The conversations that the "just because" statements sparked in his own family demonstrated the potential for the book to be a conversation starter for all parents and kids, which is what McConaughey hopes it will do.

It even offers food for thought for people without kids.

"I didn't know I needed a pep talk from Matthew McConaughey, let alone in this form, but alright, alright," wrote one commenter.

"It's supposed to be a kids book but I also lowkey need this at 35," wrote another.

"Would it be weird to buy this for my team at work?" asked one person.

"Just because I went straight to Amazon to buy this book don't mean I'm a sucker," wrote another.

McConaughey seems to have a hit on his hands. You can find "Just Because" on Amazon or support independent booksellers by purchasing through Bookshop.org.

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Democracy

Matthew McConaughey asks Americans to ‘do better’ after school shooting in his hometown

The actor lived in Uvalde, Texas until he was 11.

via Wikimedia Commons

Matthew McConaughey in 2019.

Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey made a heartfelt plea for Americans to “do better” on Tuesday after a gunman murdered 19 children and 2 adults at Robb Elementary School in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas.

Uvalde is a small town of about 16,000 residents approximately 85 miles west of San Antonio. The actor grew up in Uvalde until he was 11 years old when his family moved to Longview, 430 miles away.

The suspected murderer, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was killed by law enforcement at the scene of the crime. Before the rampage, Ramos allegedly shot his grandmother after a disagreement.

“As you all are aware there was another mass shooting today, this time in my home town of Uvalde, Texas,” McConaughey wrote in a statement shared on Twitter. “Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us.”

“The true call to action now is for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?” he wrote. “We cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo.”

The actor asked “Americans, Texans, mothers and fathers” to reconsider and “renegotiate our wants from our needs,” saying that gun violence “has tragically become our children’s issue.”

“This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better,” he wrote. “We must do better. Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.”

McConaughey ended his message by addressing the unfathomable pain the victims' families must feel.

“To those who dropped their loved ones off to school not knowing that today was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming,” he said.

McConaughey is a proud Texan who once floated the idea of running for governor without revealing his political affiliation. His humble roots in the Lone Star State were part of his appeal as a potential candidate. "As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership," McConaughey said after choosing not to run. "It's a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I'm choosing not to take at this moment."

Although his message stops short of advocating for gun control, it’s clear that he’s asking his fellow Texans to reconsider their relationship with firearms—a bold request for anyone considering a future in local politics. His message comes at a time when a majority of Americans believe in tighter laws to curb gun violence.

In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death of children and adolescents in the U.S, surpassing motor vehicle crashes.




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Well Being

Matthew McConaughey cheered up residents at a senior living center by hosting a lively game of virtual bingo

via The Enclave at Round Rock Senior Living

Senior living communities have been hit especially hard by COVID-19. So Matthew McConaughey and his family hosted virtual bingo for senior living residents at The Enclave at Round Rock Senior Living in Round Rock, Texas.

The "Dallas Buyers Club" star was accompanied by his wife, Camila, his mother, Kay, and two of his children for the game. They seemed to have a blast calling out numbers and names with the seniors over ZOOM.


Virtual Bingo with Matthew McConaughey!



Ever play virtual bingo with #MatthewMcConaughey? You'd be a whole lot cooler if you did! The residents at The Enclave at Round Rock Senior Living got to...

"The generosity and kindness Matthew McConaughey and his family showed our residents was beautiful, but more importantly we were gifted with a humble message from his heart," Spectrum Retirement Communities told Today. "And for that, we will be forever grateful."

The seniors showed their appreciation after the game by holding up signs that thanked the Oscar-winner and his family.


The Enclave at Round Rock Senior Living on Facebook Watch




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Most Shared

Matthew McConaughey surprised University of Texas students looking for a safe ride home.

Dozens of college students in Austin, Texas, looking for a safe ride home from campus last weekend were greeted by a surprise chauffeur.

Longhorns take care of each other, and it's 'safe' to say Matthew McConaughey agrees. Don't forget to use SURE Walk when traveling home late at night; you never know who might pick you up! #BeSafe #SafeChats

Posted by The University of Texas Student Government on Monday, November 28, 2016

Movie star Matthew McConaughey showed up on the University of Texas campus for an hour to drive golf carts for SURE Walk, a program that escorts students to and from campus late at night.

SURE — which stands for Students United for Rape Elimination — was founded in 1983, to combat sexual assault and violence on and off campus by offering free walks home to students. The school's student government reached out to McConaughey, an Austin native, to help promote the service, which he did, to the delight and shock of many students.

"A lot of people were surprised and kind of thrilled by what happened," SURE Walk director Krishan Sachdev says.

Students take selfies with McConaughey. Photo by Billy Begala/YouTube.

Sachdev explained that the program expanded last year to include golf carts, like the one McConaughey captained, and an SUV, in an effort to make the experience more user-friendly. Since then, he says, use of the service has increased by 200%.  

In addition to his driver duties, McConaughey posed for pictures with students and shot a candid promotional video for the program.

Sachdev says student government has undertaken efforts to beef up and publicize the program after a high-profile murder on campus last year.

Whether the program can make a larger dent in the rate of sexual assault, which often occurs behind closed doors between people who know each other — or even between significant others — remains to be seen. Nevertheless, colleges across America have become more aggressive in their attempts to combat rape and sexual violence in recent years, with current and former students taking the initiative in many of the most high-profile cases, often finding themselves at odds with administrators in the process.

Still, Sachdev hopes that McConaughey's appearance will help publicize the program to students who might otherwise hesitate to use it.

SURE Walk recently expanded its operating hours from 10 p.m.–2 a.m. to 7 p.m.–2 a.m.

"Matthew McConaughey really, really helped us in trying to normalize this service and trying to bring it to students' attention that we're here and we're here to stay," Sachdev says.

As UT students learned over the weekend, there's nothing like a world-famous movie star rolling up in a golf cart to make asking for help seem, ironically, normal.

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