The 28th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards took place on Feb. 23, 2013, at the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. Here is what this Spirit Award winner said backstage in the Spirit Awards press room.
MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY
Best Supporting Male
You mentioned your mother in your acceptance speech. Did your mother have a big influence in you becoming an actor?
No. She might have been an actress, but she didn’t know it. We didn’t grow up around stage or even media. I saw two films before I was 18 years old. “Orca” and “King Kong.” The idea of doing this for a living was not even in the vernacular of my dreams until I was 19 and I had a friend suggest it to me, but I didn’t think it was a possible way to reality for a working way to a job. My whole family are hams. They’re storytellers and everyone outdoes the next one. For two hours a night, from [ages] zero to 42, around the dinner table stories are told in my house.
Can you talk about your wardrobe in “Magic Mike”?
The first thing I remember we talked on the phone. I did this with [“Magic Mike” director] Steven [Soderbergh’s] crew more than any other film. I talked to the set decorator, the costume designer — all in preproduction. We had long conversations. We would email ideas and stuff.
We were talking about, “Who is the guy? How is he different from the people we may have seen in research in real life?” So when I brought up Jim Morrison, he was like, “Leathers. Leather pants.” That sent him in one direction.
And then we did that scene in the gym, we said, “”Tight, form-fitting ballet.” I had ballet slippers on too. That’s the Richard Simmons/Baryshnikov. I was like, “Oh, OK.” We found the obsessed, sort of comedic route, but a guy who’s taking his job very seriously. As Steven said in the very first phone call: “If you play this straight and really dead-serious, it’s going to be hilarious.”
And so we just really went for that. And then there were week-long talks about the right thong. We said it needs some sort of snakeskin for this guy, Dallas. But once we found the leathers and they fit, that’s a stalemate. That’s what Dallas wears all the time.
What do you wear to the gym in real life?
I’d be pretty brave to sport that outfit to the gym. Walk around and straight-face that. I haven’t pulled that one off yet.
Do you prefer independent films or studio films?
I love good film, whether it’s an independent or studio film. The independent films, I think the good ones aren’t necessarily eccentric ones but they’re the more specific ones. And because they’re usually for a lower budget, time and money are against you. And if you have enough to actually get it made, eve though it’s going to be hard as hell, you’re forced to make it happen.
And there’s something fun about the construction of making an independent film. That’s my favorite thing: the making of an independent film. You’re actually on camera 10 times more per day than you are if you were in a large studio film.
You don’t go back to the trailer. You don’t have the exits and re-entrance and re-approach. You show up that morning and there’s not really time to talk about much because we’ve got to shoot it. There’s not really time to talk about what the scene’s about. “Show me what you mean.”
That’s why I started doing independent films. Somebody says, “You ready?” I’m like, “Press record. Don’t even rehearse. Shoot the rehearsal. Shoot it. Shoot everything.” I like that. That’s a fun way to work for me.
For more info: Spirit Awards website
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