Side Road to Success Wins Matthew McConaughey Admiration

LOS ANGELES - Two aspiring actors recently stood in line at Alfred, a hip coffee house on Melrose Place here, and chatted about 'True Detective,' the new HBO drama co-starring Matthew McConaughey. Their conversation turned to Mr. McConaughey and his Oscar-nominated role as an AIDS patient in 'Dallas Buyers Club.'

And then came this shocker: 'That's the kind of career that I want,' one of the men said, to a nod of approval from his friend.

Apparently forgetting that ruthless self-promotion remains the No. 1 way to get ahead in Hollywood, he declined to provide his name. Maybe he was embarrassed: Matthew McConaughey, career role model? Not so long ago, the only people saying that were naked bongo drummers.

But that was the old Mr. McConaughey, the shirtless dude in the Us Weekly photo spread who starred in tacky comedies like 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' and 'Failure to Launch' (and who was arrested in 1999 in a bongo-related incident). The new Mr. McConaughey, 44, widely expected to take home the best actor trophy at Sunday's Academy Awards and a likely Emmy contender for 'True Detective,' has improbably become a serious performer and the guy a lot of would-be actors want to emulate.

A catchphrase has even popped up in the film world: 'The McConaughey Model.'

'When he started making choices that were less based on his looks and had artistic integrity, a lot of young actors became very impressed,' said Laura Gardner, an actress and instructor at the Howard Fine Acting Studio here. 'McConaughey has demonstrated a commitment to his art, to finding that truth in his characters.' She noted he lost 43 pounds for 'Dallas Buyers Club.'

While Mr. McConaughey has become the poster boy for highbrow pursuits, a whole swarm of actors - hunks all, notably - are seeking more quality parts after big commercial roles (and big commercial paydays) left them a bit beaten up by lousy reviews and disappointing ticket sales.

Ryan Reynolds, having flopped in a big action movie ( 'R.I.P.D.') and a broad comedy ( 'The Change-Up') has three indie films on his docket, including one where he plays a serial killer with a talking cat. After being pushed into disastrous would-be blockbusters like 'Battleship' and 'John Carter,' Taylor Kitsch, a critical darling for his work on the television drama 'Friday Night Lights,' is now pushing the reset button with meatier parts in movies like 'Lone Survivor' and HBO's coming adaptation of 'The Normal Heart.'

Matt Bomer, while not trying to climb out of a career slump as much as continue an ascension, has tackled a role in 'The Normal Heart' with McConaugheyian gusto: Mr. Bomer lost about 30 pounds to play an AIDS patient in the TV movie.

'These guys and their managers seem to be realizing that their life on the candy shelf has a shorter and shorter expiration date,' said James Ulmer, whose Ulmer Scale rates the global 'bankability' of actors.

Mr. McConaughey's newfound artistic integrity may not be the only reason for this flight to quality. Making it in Hollywood is so difficult that there is a tendency among struggling actors and their representatives to chase whatever is working; insecurity and desperation combine to create the ultimate herd mentality. Run this way! Wait, hold everything. Now run that way!

Mind-bending reversals can ensue: Last year, to the wonderment of anyone who had lived through the widely mocked 'Gigli,' Ben Affleck's career was the one to emulate. His 'Argo' had just won the best picture Oscar. Then he flopped in 'Runner, Runner' and puzzled people by signing up to play Batman in a coming movie.

The pack started to sniff around for a new lead dog. Enter Mr. McConaughey, whose career turnaround, aided by some of the savviest agents and publicists in the movie business, has been nothing short of spectacular.

The Texas-born Mr. McConaughey, who broke through in the 1993 indie 'Dazed and Confused,' had the fortitude (and means) to pass on leading roles in clunker romantic comedies and blah franchise films in favor of chewier character parts: his two-bit attorney in 'Bernie,' his closeted reporter in 'The Paperboy,' his grimy fugitive in 'Mud.' It was financially difficult: In accepting these little parts, he passed up a $15 million offer from Universal to resuscitate 'Magnum, P.I.'

But those parts led him to 'Dallas Buyers Club,' 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' in which he has an arresting cameo as a coke-addled stockbroker, and 'True Detective.' And it led him to a big payoff: Christopher Nolan hired Mr. McConaughey as the male lead for his science fiction epic 'Interstellar,' a film viewed as both artistically and commercially viable that arrives in November. (Mr. Nolan's last original movie, 'Inception,' took in more than $825 million worldwide in 2010; his critically applauded 'Dark Knight' trilogy took in roughly $2.4 billion.)

'He's on a ridiculous roll,' said Dave Karger, an Oscar expert who serves as chief correspondent at Fandango.com, of Mr. McConaughey. 'What 30-something actor wouldn't envy it?' Mr. McConaughey has notably sprinted toward an Oscar win in a year when heavyweights like Tom Hanks and Robert Redford got snubbed.

Without taking anything away from Mr. McConaughey, his recent strategy is actually an age-old one, noted Jeanine Basinger, the chairwoman of the film studies department at Wesleyan University. Since the earliest days of Hollywood, stars have used more serious work to hop to new career lily pads. Think John Travolta with 'Pulp Fiction,' or Frank Sinatra with 'From Here to Eternity.' Clint Eastwood evolved from Detective Harry Callahan to a director of nuanced, critically praised films like 'Gran Torino.'

'Actors have to go where they are cast, but when your career becomes a punch line, as McConaughey's did, you flee to the cheaper indie film, the small but delicious part, the Broadway stage,' said Ms. Basinger, who wrote the book 'The Star Machine,' which examines the old studio system.

Consider Jake Gyllenhaal, who after anchoring the disappointing, big-budget fantasy 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,' shifted to artier roles, popping up most recently in the extremely dark 'Prisoners.'

'The movie business is largely just stuffing actors in this place and this place and this place,' Mr. Gyllenhaal told Man of the World magazine in this month's issue. 'It's taken me a long time in my career to realize that you can't be good at everything.'

Spoken like a fellow who could become the next actor to emulate. 'Anything is possible, especially because a new one seems to arrive with every Oscar season,' Ms. Basinger said. 'Nobody expected any year to be Matthew McConaughey's year.'

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