Why Matthew McConaughey turned down a $21 million role

Matthew McConaughey has no regrets over turning down a $14.5 million ($21 million) role.

The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star recently revealed he snubbed a massive payday over a decade ago when he decided to step away from romantic comedies in an effort to rebuild his acting career.

Appearing on E!'s Daily Pop show, he said: "No, I never regretted that. That was during a two-year hiatus I was taking from the romantic comedies that I'd been doing and the action-adventures I had been doing.

Matthew McConaughey shares why he turned down millions for a role in his new memoir. Photo / Getty Images

"I was very clear… look, intellectually, that was a hard one to say 'no' to. Just looking at that sheer number—are you kidding me? Wow."

The 50-year-old actor admitted the decision to turn down the mystery role "solidified" his own stance as he made the decision to go in a new direction.

He added: "But I knew I needed to remain on my sabbatical from the films I had been doing for my own soul. And so, no, I never regretted it.

"But boy, saying 'no' to that really solidified my stance for myself. I was like, okay, I'm not breaking now."

McConaughey - who made his name in the likes of The Wedding Planner and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - recently admitted he "enjoyed making romantic comedies", but he felt the need to leave the genre behind.

Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner star in the film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past . Photo / Supplied

Opening up about turning down the $21 million offer in his memoir Greenlights, he didn't name the movie but wrote: "I declined the offer.

"If I couldn't do what I wanted, I wasn't going to do what I didn't, no matter the price."
He suggested during the 2010s he became the new Hugh Grant - who starred in the likes of Music and Lyrics, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and Love Actually.

Matthew said: "The romantic comedies remained my only consistent box office hits, which made them my only consistent incoming offers.

"For me personally, I enjoyed being able to give people a nitty-minute breezy romantic getaway from the stress of their lives where they didn't have to think about anything, just watch the boy chase the girl, fall down, then get up and finally get her.

"I had taken the baton from Hugh Grant, and I ran with it."