Matthew McConaughey didn't mean to 'take a break' from film before The Rivals of Amziah King

Matthew McConaughey didn't mean to "take a break" from film before he was cast in 'The Rivals of Amziah King'.

The 55-year-old actor last had a main role in a film in 2021 but after a short hiatus, he is back starring in the Western and noted that it was the "musicality" of the story that persuaded him to sign on.

He told Collider: "I didn't feel like I needed a break. I just ended up taking a break, did other things, wrote a book. I really enjoyed that. Another version of storytelling with less filters. I did a few other things there along the way, and then this came along. Original voice, original place, time, space, the language, the poetry, the musicality of it, the innocence of it, the humour of it, the wild, anarchic humor of it. A father figure and a mentor and a wild a**, Amziah King, who gives misfits belonging is what he does.

"I love that at the heart of the story, it's a love story between her and I at the base of it. And then this is all the band. Amziah has taken folks in along the way. If it doesn't make sense, well, it oughta. If it ain't true, s***, say it quick. It will be. [Laughs] It's a story I want to be part of, and it's a story that I'm excited to be out there right now. So, when I read it, I knew the people. I knew the places. I've been around them. They're on the outskirts of places even I've lived. A lot of the world will look at this and go, "Who are those people? What planet is that that they're living on?" Then tonight, at South by Southwest specifically, I think most everyone in that crowd will go, "I do know those people."

The 'Dazed and Confused' star performs six original songs as part of the new film - which follows his character as he reunites with his foster daughter before tragedy occurs - and found a certain "poetry" in his new role.

He said: "I just found that there's poetry in that guy, in that voice. The life, the way he moves, everything's musical. The way he hears. This film is very musical, and it's arguably a musical. Six tunes in it that we sing and perform. It's literally kind of a musical and just the musicality of the relationships and the dialogue I was just attracted to. I heard the meter in my own mind very quickly. I wanted to be a part of it."