Today I am going to look over his career by running down five of his best performances. Each of these roles shows off something great about McConaughey as an actor and I will be analyzing why he makes each of these parts work. Alright, alright, alright, let’s begin.

David Wooderson – Dazed and Confused

His first big-screen role shows McConaughey’s penchant for completely stealing the show. Despite only having a handful of scenes Wooderson is Dazed and Confused’s most memorable character. With his laidback attitude, smooth voice, and commanding screen presence McConaughey and director Richard Linklater created the cinematic embodiment of the cool counter-culture man child. And it remains not only his best small part but perhaps his most iconic role.

Benjamin Barry – How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

This one role is here to represent McConaughey’s best qualities as a romantic lead. Benjamin, an advertising executive, must convince Andie (Kate Hudson) to fall for him to score his latest contract. But Andie keeps trying desperately to break up the relationship because she is currently writing an article about how to lose a guy in 10 days. The set-up and payoff are obvious, but McConaughey makes it work. He’s incredibly charming in the part. With his slick self-confidence, infectious energy, his great comedic timing (being the source of most of the film’s laughs), and his fantastic chemistry with Kate Hudson, McConaughey turns something insufferable into something bearable and occasionally enjoyable. Sometimes great performances are more valuable in bad movies.

Killer Joe Cooper – Killer Joe

Killer Joe Cooper is a world away from McConaughey’s romantic leads. Hired to kill a family’s estranged mother so they can claim her insurance Joe Cooper is a vile, disgusting, and intimidating presence. He coldly commits murder and holds people to ransom when his fees aren’t paid. McConaughey’s performance pulls no punches. He leers over young girls and forces people to commit horrendously debasing acts to establish dominance. But he has an honesty about himself and how he views the world that makes him strangely watchable. This is perhaps McConaughey’s best villainous role.

Ron Woodroof – Dallas Buyers Club

The role that won McConaughey his Oscar. Ron, a red-blooded homophobic Texan, is diagnosed with HIV during the height of the AIDS crisis and begins smuggling unapproved drugs that help alleviate the effects of the virus into the US to sell to AIDS patients. Initially, because of his attitude towards the gay community, Ron is very unlikable. But after having to walk in their shoes he slowly comes to their side and McConaughey keeps you thoroughly engaged. His dramatic weight loss adds authenticity and vulnerability to his performance. He’s also quite darkly funny and charming in the role. And McConaughey’s charisma keeps Ron watchable even when you don’t like him.

Detective Rust Cohle – True Detective (Season 1)

Rust Cohle is an extremely pessimistic (at times nihilistic) person. His only strength is investigation and aside from that, he believes humanity is a lost cause. As the series continues we find the reasons behind his feelings are very justified. However, the subtle sparks of humanity we see in Rust make us route for him to recover his long-lost optimism. Ultimately McConaughey’s the reason Rust works so well. In other hands Rust would sound whiny and annoying. But McConaughey’s slow and soft vocals, his world-weary stares and relaxed demeanor make him feel like someone who truly knows what the abyss is. And whenever he speaks, you can’t take your eyes off him. For my money, this is Matthew McConaughey’s best role.

Thus ends my list of Matthew McConaughey’s best performances. Did I miss any out or do you disagree with any of my picks? Please let me know.

Also Read: The Anatomy of a Christopher Nolan

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Big population, a small representation

Better representation of disability on screen isn’t only incredibly important for diversity and originality but it also gives actors with disabilities more opportunities. Despite there being 13.9 million people in the UK with some type of disability (the current population is 66 million), eight in 10 disabled people say they do not feel well represented in the media so there’s clearly something wrong when it comes to disability representation.

It becomes even more clear when you put statistics next to it. In 2016, only 2.7 percent of characters in the 100 highest-earning movies had a disability. Last year only 2.1% of the characters in primetime TV series were disabled. It’s not only the numbers that need to change but also the way disability is being represented on screen. Disabled people in media always come with stereotypical roles such as being the object of pity, victims of violence or the evil person.

A long fight that’s still not fought yet

The battle to see disability better represented on screen is being a hard one but luckily many art institutes don’t give up on it. One of the most important ones is the casting studio VisABLE, which helps to create professional opportunities for actors, presenters and models with disabilities for over more than 20 years. Their highly skilled professionals were already part of television series and films such as Doctors, Casualty and Holmes and Watson. Some of the films might even appear on the ‘Disabled Britain on Film‘, a part of the online BFI Player. Thanks to this initiative, you can watch many films for free that are about the on-screen representation of disabled people over the past decades.

Another big institute supporting the representation is the BBC. Last year, they pledged to include more actors and entertainers in their television programs such as shows, documentaries, and dramas. This might have been the outcome of the angriness they caused in 2018 when they cast Charlie Heaton (a non-disabled actor) in the role of Elephant Man. If the new pledge of BBC is coming off the ground, it would be a massive step in the right direction. Hopefully, many important broadcasters will pledge the same.

104 Films production company is an example of a film production company leading the way, as they’re hoping to create a shift in the representation of disability both on-screen and off. Many production companies should follow their example without a doubt.

Film festivals such as ‘Together! Disability Film Festival‘ in London the ‘Oska Bright film festival‘ in Brighton also don’t stay behind when it comes to wanting to represent more disability on screen. The films that are part of the festivals are made by deaf/disabled filmmakers and feature a strong central deaf/disabled character.

Casting the right people is key

Whether we want to admit or not, there’s whitewashing going on in film. Think about the backlash casting decision such as Kiernan Shipka in The Silence or Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club. The comments about that last example were about the fact Leto portrayed every stereotype of a transgender woman and that the portrayal was wrong on so many levels. So tell us, why do we still allow non-disabled people to portray disabled characters if that indeed also results in stereotypes on screen? That casting disabled people can turn a gorgeous film into an even more beautiful and important one became clear over the last few years. Think of the Oscar-winning short film The Silent Child. If a film like that, with a relatively small budget, can hire disabled people and making them feel at ease, then why can’t big blockbusters?

Old problem, new mindset

How can we start to solve this old problem? According to reelhoney.com, one of the measurements that a production company can take is to make auditions much more accessible and to meet the access requirements. It would literally make the threshold lower for disabled people to start in the film and television industry. A few years ago, actress Sarah Gordy (Call The Midwife), who has Down syndrome, mentioned that directors and producers didn’t think she would be able to play a part because of her learning disability. However, after giving her a chance, she was able to prove them wrong in the best way possible. Another measurement is probably the best and probably also the easiest one production companies, producers and directors can take: Just give people with disabilities a chance!

Also Read: When Great Video Games Become Lacklustre Movies

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