His mother, Kay, is a schoolteacher.

Lived briefly in Australia following high school and adopted an Australian accent for awhile after returning to the USA.

Education: University of Texas at Austin (Film)

Graduated 1988 from Longview High School, Longview, Texas.

Brother of Rooster McConaughey.

Arrested in Oct 1999 in Austin, Texas for "resisting transportation" after first being under suspicion for marijuana possession.

Police responded to a disturbance call at Matthew's home in Austin, Tx. in October.

When they arrived, the music was blaring and he was playing bongo drums in the nude.

He was with an unknown man and police attempted to arrest him after spotting illegal drugs. He resisted arrest.

Was the first choice to play the lead in Titanic (1997).

Travelled around Peru after filming A Time to Kill (1996).

Voted "Most Handsome" in his Senior year of high school.

Member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

His favorite sport is golf.

He owns a 1,600-acre ranch in west Texas, which he purchased for $500,000.

His father died of a heart attack in August 1992.

His first professional acting job was in a beer commercial.

Fan of John Mellencamp's music. Was seen wearing a tee shirt from Mellencamp's

"Whenever We Wanted" tour in A Time to Kill (1996).

Born on the same day as Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs.

Was on the sidelines of the Texas Longhorns during the 2006 Rose Bowl where the Longhorns beat the USC Trojans 41-38.

Was accompanied by Penélope Cruz to the Grammy Awards in 2005. The couple met on the set of Sahara (2005).

Served as the Grand Marshall for the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida in February 2005.

He traveled around the United States for a month in his personal Airsteam trailer promoting his movie Sahara (2005).

During a guest appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992), Leno surprised him with an old airline training tape he had acted in. McConaughey had no memory of being in the video.

Is of Irish descent

Despite being a native Texan, he's a big fan of the Washington Redskins NFL team.

People Magazine's 2005 Most Sexiest Man Alive

Turned down a role in The Jackal (1997).

Was considered for a role in Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997).

His life motto is "Just Keep Living"

His brother, Michael McConaughey, aka Rooster, had a son and named him Miller Lyte McConaughey.

Doesn't wear deodorant or cologne.

Has three bedrooms in his house and sleeps in all of them in turn.

Announced that he is auctioning his 1971 Chevy Stingray Corvette on Ebay, and donating all the money to Oprah's Angel Network Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief funds.

Has worked with such well-known directors as Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Richard Linklater and Jonathan Mostow.

Is good friends with Lance Armstrong.

Is good friends with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Named one of People Magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006.

He was considered for the role of Jack in 'Titanic.' He then played Dirk Pitt (in Sahara), who found the Titanic in another adventure.

He has traveled around Mali in western Africa.