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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN and Variety Town Hall Event: Chalamet and McConaughey. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired February 21, 2026 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: The NASA administrator Jared Isaacman says the agency will have to roll the rocket back into the vehicle assembly building since the problem can't be fixed on the launch pad. That process can be lengthy. It will keep the rocket from being capable of launching in March.
Thank you so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you right back here tomorrow night we get started at 5:00 Eastern. A CNN and "Variety" town hall event, "Timothee Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey" premieres right here on CNN, next.
Have a great night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, ACTOR: All right. Hey, this doesn't feel like there's a camera.
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: Put that out?
CHALAMET: Yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: OK. Put that out.
CHALAMET: There it is. Oh, wow. This feels very sophisticated.
MCCONAUGHEY: Doesn't it? I think we're being live (INAUDIBLE) out there.
CHALAMET: All right. Yes, baby.
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey.
CHALAMET: Come on. How are we doing?
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey, all.
CHALAMET: What's up? What's up? What's up? What up, what up, what, what up?
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey, hey.
CHALAMET: What's up?
MCCONAUGHEY: Howdy, everybody.
CHALAMET: My dog right there. My dog.
MCCONAUGHEY: You said this role most like you.
CHALAMET: I felt like I needed to be like that because I felt like Marty, like my back was against the wall.
MCCONAUGHEY: Let's talk about the film where Timothee and I first met, where I play his dad.
CHALAMET: OK. No CNN, no Variety. You've seen "Interstellar" once. I love that you asked that question. I did not expect you to ask that at all, man. They're going to do it. They're going to do it. They're going to kiss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey, good evening, everybody, and welcome to the University of Texas at Austin, Moody College of Communication for a CNN and Variety town hall with myself, Matthew McConaughey, and my buddy here, Timothee Chalamet.
CHALAMET: Sweet. Thank you. Come on.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MCCONAUGHEY: Tonight we're going to be talking for the next hour about our careers, as well as taking questions from students here at my alma mater, where I also currently teach a film class called Script to Screen.
Timothee, as you all may know, is starring a little movie called "Marty Supreme."
CHALAMET: Yes. With my dog right there, my dog.
MCCONAUGHEY: For which he also happens to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
CHALAMET: Yes, yes, come on.
MCCONAUGHEY: Come on. So --
CHALAMET: You know a little something about that.
MCCONAUGHEY: Little something, thankfully. Yes. We're going to get to "Marty Supreme" in a second. But before we do, let's talk about the film where Timothee and I first met, where I play his dad. It is called "Interstellar." Let's check out a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHALAMET: Travel safely.
MCCONAUGHEY: You need to look after our place for me, all right? All right?
CHALAMET: Mm-hmm. Hey, can I use your truck while you're gone?
MCCONAUGHEY: You mean your truck. I'll make sure they bring him back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONAUGHEY: Here we go.
CHALAMET: Oh, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Where we met, bud.
CHALAMET: What an incredible film, man. That remains the -- my favorite project I've ever been in. I think it's your most fantastic role. I know you were coming off of "Dallas Buyers Club" but that movie to me is really like the origin point, you know, and seeing how you carried yourself on set, how seriously you took the work, how seriously Christopher Nolan took the work.
I feel like it gave me license. I feel like coming out of high school it's hard to take yourself super seriously. You can feel like you're wasting time or stuck up or something. And I remember you had a yoga mat on set. In between takes you'd be working out, and you were sleeping on set, and it was all very strange to me. And -- but it was super inspiring, you know? And I just can't thank you enough for being warm to me at that time when you had no reason to be warm to me, and Christopher as well, and it just changed my life, man. I mean it.
MCCONAUGHEY: You're pretty easy to be warm to. And thank you for that, man. You're pretty easy to be warm to. I got -- how old were you then?
CHALAMET: I was 17.
MCCONAUGHEY: 17 years old. So I want you to catch me up, because I remember, and tell me if I'm remembering this correct, that you had sort of a, what I felt like was a feverish curiosity. And I believe you were in -- weren't you in some sort of limbo? You were choosing. Were you in New York? And it was something about music and somebody was putting pressure about maybe go this way, and you were wanting to go this way.
CHALAMET: Man, absolutely. In fact I can't believe you even remember that. I feel like I would have picked your brain about that, which was, I was getting pulled between going to college, which is what my parents wanted for me, especially my mom, or pursuing acting right away. But no one, no person in their right mind tells a young person, hey, drop out of school and go pursue acting, you know? And yes, yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: Right.
CHALAMET: That you guys should drop out of school, right? No. But, no, and I remember you were really just open to all those possibilities, you know? And I was in limbo. It gave me the fuel I needed to keep going, you know?
[19:05:02]
MCCONAUGHEY: Well, it was -- it was clear then I didn't know what you were going to -- that we'd be sitting here now this many years later, talking about your career to this point. But it was clear to me then that, oh, whatever this young man does latch on to, he will catch it. So congratulations.
CHALAMET: Man, thank you, Matthew. And I got to say, you know, my last day on "Interstellar," I was very moved. I was sad to be leaving, you know, and I went in my trailer and I went in the bathroom, and there was a huge, huge turd in my toilet.
(LAUGHTER)
CHALAMET: And I was like, I felt so disrespected because I thought, oh, man, I know I'm not the star on this movie, but like, who's coming? So I went around to all the huge grips. We were in the suburbs of Canada, these big guys, I said, hey, why don't you, guys, you know, let it loose in my trailer?
(LAUGHTER)
CHALAMET: And they said no. And I went up to Nolan on set, too, down my trailer, and he kind of pointed to Matthew. And I looked at Matthew. He had this devilish grin on his face like, right now, man.
(LAUGHTER)
CHALAMET: And I said, why did you do that, man? He said it's coming in Texas, coming of age, baby. He's like, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
MCCONAUGHEY: Souvenir.
CHALAMET: A little souvenir. That's a true story, though. It's a true story. I remember coming to set on "Interstellar" and you saying to me, how does that tractor work over there? I didn't have the answer. Do you remember this?
MCCONAUGHEY: No.
CHALAMET: OK, I came to set, and I think maybe you could see I was kind of aimless, but motivated. And you said, how does that tractor work over there? And I had no clue. And you said, you should know. You should know. You know, if you were on this farm, you would know. I thought you were half joking. So I think I kind of cracked a laugh. And you said, no, you should really know.
I went home that night to the hotel I was staying at. I printed a bunch of research. I came and knocked on your trailer door. I was proud to show it. You know? No. And that stuff that means a lot, man. As an actor, all you risk is looking foolish because it's a tremendously foolish job. If you can embrace that and then if you throw that out the window nothing can stop you. You know, then you then you're on a light, a powerful light source, man. MCCONAUGHEY: You're not -- if you're being right too often, you're not
taking enough risk. Don't be afraid of that. The foolishness. Don't be afraid of going, man, I have no idea. Should I know about that?
CHALAMET: Right.
MCCONAUGHEY: Oh, I didn't know I should know about that. People that will give you that advice, maybe, or go, yes, you should, they're so happy to. They will be.
CHALAMET: Oh, we said that. Beware of the people in life. They get more out of the advice they give you than you get out of the advice they're giving you. Point being people like they -- not only are they thrilled to give you advice, they're thrilled by the act of giving you advice. I'm not talking about what I've gone through recently, but I do remember at 18, 19, 20 as someone that and all of a sudden you can't even listen to what they're saying anymore because you feel like they're flexing on you so hard.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, yes.
CHALAMET: And yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: Yes. You never did that to me, though, which I'm grateful for.
MCCONAUGHEY: Hope not.
CHALAMET: So let's talk about this scene in "Interstellar." This is probably my favorite, quote-unquote, "acting scene" in the movie. This is "Interstellar" with Matthew Hess Cooper seeing clips from his children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONAUGHEY: The messages span 23 years. Play from the beginning.
CHALAMET: Hey, Dad, check it in. Saying hi. Finished second in school. It's still giving me. See? So pulled me down. But the seconds not bad. Grandpa attended the ceremony. Oh, I met another girl, Dad. I, I really think this is the one. Name is Lois. It's her right there. Murphy stole Grandpa's car. She crashed it. She's OK, though.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, you know what? I remember that, I remember that all I did, I was so happy and joyful to hear what my kids were up to. And the ironic thing is that you couldn't be there. And I, most of the time for me, if I ever, I'm getting emotional, it comes from a joy of something. And then if I'm, yes, I mean, I was so happy to see you talk, my son talk to share something and then realize, oh, my gosh, I wasn't there for it. And what if that was the case? We couldn't be there. CHALAMET: You just unlocked that scene for me, man, because I think
the joyousness is what throws it off in a good way, because it's not just a guy who's having a meltdown. I mean, it's what you just said. You know, there's a joy in seeing. Wow. Yes. You haven't seen the -- your kids' faces again.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes. And hearing their stories. That was a -- yes, that was a, that was a fun and special.
CHALAMET: I got this theory, too. I know we got to go on another subject. I got a theory, too, that, I said this to Nolan the other day, when I saw him. He said, you're being very polite, but he's like I know what you're trying to say which is, it was like a frosty reception. It was still an amazing reception in the movie --
MCCONAUGHEY: But the 10-year anniversary?
CHALAMET: Yes. Exactly.
MCCONAUGHEY: And for a lot of y'all, was the introduction.
CHALAMET: Yes. And have you felt the film grow?
MCCONAUGHEY: Hundred percent.
CHALAMET: Oh, yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: It's probably right now, it is right now the most thing the movie that I most get approached about.
CHALAMET: Wow.
[19:10:02]
MCCONAUGHEY: For sure. And the common thing is I've seen it four times or I've seen it 12 times, I've seen it 20 times. The minimum number I've heard anyone say they've seen it is four.
CHALAMET: I've legitimately maybe seen it 22 times or something. I saw it 12 times in theaters when it came out.
MCCONAUGHEY: His girlfriend set him up a screening of "Interstellar" for his birthday.
CHALAMET: This is true, man. This is true for my last birthday. And I was grumpy on the way there because I knew where she was taking me. That's my birthday. Where are we driving 30 minutes outside of L.A.? I got to the theater. It was "Interstellar" in iMax. I said, oh, I'm sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
CHALAMET: I'm sorry I was so grumpy on the drive. But I don't think you're going to bring that up, man. But, listen, man, I love that movie, man. And I just hope, you know, I don't know, I'm seeing, you know, seeing so many young faces here. I hope it resonates for you guys, too, because I just love that movie, man. And I'm the only person that gets sad every time Casey Affleck comes on screen, you know, because that's when I'm out the movie.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: But I got a good friend named Ryan. He's a Texas boy, and he says, you know, "Interstellar" falls off at minute, 37.
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey, let's take an audience question.
CHALAMET: All right.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. My name is Ethan Xavier, and I'm a sophomore here at UT Austin studying radio, television and film. And my question is for you, Timothee.
What instinct do you trust most when choosing a role? And when has listening to that instinct surprised or scared you?
CHALAMET: The instinct is to work with great directors first and foremost, because I feel like you learn very quickly if you're trying to do a great performance, but you don't have somebody wrangling it in a good way. I'm sure you've had this experience, too. You know, it doesn't come to fruition. I would say the riskiest thing was "Wonka," where I followed my instinct to do that. And now you're getting, you're getting (INAUDIBLE). No, kidding.
(LAUGHTER)
CHALAMET: And no, but for "Wonka," because I felt it was an untraditional career step and that I had done serious movies already, and I think people sort of, like even when the trailer came out on its face, took it as like a family movie or something. But that director Paul King, if anyone here has seen "Paddington" and "Paddington Two," which, those are like tremendous movies to me. And to this day on the "Interstellar" point, I feel like that movie didn't get its fair shake.
MCCONAUGHEY: "Wonka."
CHALAMET: Yes. Even though it was financially successful which sounds like a flex and probably is, but, and no, but I, you know it felt like there were codes of coolness and culture that I, you know, and I honestly thought it was kind of punk rock to do something that wasn't, you know, so cool about, you know, drugs or something. But I don't think people really took it that way, but, hey, it is what it is.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: I got some, you know, got some free chocolate out of it. So, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
MCCONAUGHEY: Well, speaking of punk rock, let's check out a clip from "Marty Supreme."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHALAMET: I got to tell you something, Rachel. All right? It's not intended to be mean. I have a purpose. You don't. And if you think that's some sort of blessing, it's not. It puts me at a huge life disadvantage. It means I have an obligation to see a very specific thing through. And with that obligation comes sacrifice, OK? My life is the product of all the choices I've had to make. Your life is a product of -- I don't even know what your life is the product of.
You're just making it up as you go along. That's the kind of person you are. That's not the kind of person I am, OK? You're responsible for the shitty decisions you made. I never told you to get married. Not once. You cannot pawn them off onto me.
ODESSA A'ZION, ACTOR: I understand.
CHALAMET: How much do you make a year at the pet store?
A'ZION: About $1200.
CHALAMET: OK, in case you forgot, I have a week to make $1500. Not including airfare. I need to focus right now. No distractions.
A'ZION: I'm sorry.
CHALAMET: No, it's OK. And it goes without saying, I'm in no position to settle down right now. Get that out of your mind. I will not settle down right now. OK? If you're serious about leaving Ira, I will not abandon you as your friend. I will help you. We'll do the research. We'll find a great maternity home. They'll take you in. They'll ensure the baby has got a good family. We can do it, no? No? Then go home, Rachel. Just go home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONAUGHEY: Heydy, hey.
CHALAMET: Hey, hey.
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey, hey, hey, hey. How long did that clip last? A minute? That's a lot. Short of time, that is. You've covered a lot of ground there, sir.
CHALAMET: Oh, yes. Well, you know what? That was my, that scene made me want to do the movie, man. That's where I feel like I connected with the spirit of Marty the most. Not in the way that he's antagonizing the woman in his life there, and being, you know, treacherous towards Rachel that Odessa plays beautifully. But I just loved that speech on the page, greenlight, baby. Like I feel --
MCCONAUGHEY: And it's your monologue. That your man -- one of your, not your monologue. What I'm saying is not literally your monologue. A scene that you go, this is the DNA of my guy. Right? You see it from the inside out. CHALAMET: Exactly.
MCCONAUGHEY: You expand that scene, you can write an encyclopedia on that character.
CHALAMET: Exactly. And I just thought it was so unusual for, I never been approached to do a role like that. Anything, any part of me that ever did a fashion commercial or perfume commercial, whatever, this role, it was the exact opposite. You know? He wanted nothing that was like, you know, I love "Little Women." I love Laurie and "Little Women." But he wanted the exact opposite, you know? And what I love there is, and I'm sure you can relate to this, but when you have no backstop in life, when you're your only person that's rooting for you.
[19:15:11]
That I can relate to less now because I have people that are rooting for me, and I have people -- when you're, when it's only you that does something to a person and you can say that people that are individualistic in life, whatever, they're big dreamers or they have freedom, but they're not. They -- their fate has been taken hostage by their dream. And they're victim to it, you know? And I loved that sense.
I felt like that when I was your guys' age. I still feel like that to a degree. I feel like that to the degree where I'm like, shit, I'm on a roll. I got to see this through, you know? And anyway --
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, man.
CHALAMET: That's the end of that thought.
MCCONAUGHEY: Self-reliance.
CHALAMET: Yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes. And to paint your own self in a corner and put yourself on it, that it's, it helps for us to become obsessed with things.
CHALAMET: Oh, yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: In that way.
CHALAMET: Oh, yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: And I think obsession is -- it's hard, but I think it's a necessary thing to do and create art.
CHALAMET: Absolutely, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: That translates.
CHALAMET: And I was like how table tennis or ping pong is the silly maybe metaphor for the movie but even time spent alone, I've learned that later in life now, and I knew that of you by reading your book and just knowing your life, too. But sometimes you got to take a month or a week or whatever.
MCCONAUGHEY: Reservations for one. Kind of necessary sometimes.
CHALAMET: Exactly. I don't have a pickup truck or anything, but you know, when I go on my solitary adventure, I got three guys in the car behind me that are making sure I'm not going to get killed. No, I'm kidding, but --
(LAUGHTER)
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey. So, and I met him today briefly in the car. But you developed this with Josh Safdie.
CHALAMET: Yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: Why did you get into develop it with him?
CHALAMET: He's the first person I ever worked with that I felt like I had, was brethren. You know, I felt like this with Greta Gerwig, too, you know, where we had a cultural sensibility that was the same. But Josh and I can exchange memes, you know what I mean? And, you know, Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan, I'm not sending him like, you know, shitbag memes or whatever, you know, like. And Josh, I can. In fact, Josh will send me weird shit, man. You know?
MCCONAUGHEY: Josh is the kind of guy that'll leave a deuce in your trailer.
CHALAMET: Josh was worse than that. He would, like, force himself to throw up in your toilet or something. Like why did you force yourself? What kind of point? What point were you making by doing that? He's going to kill me for saying that, but, no, I mean I love working with Josh, you know, and he's a fire breather, you know, and he's very suspicious of, everything you said before, of doing it the right way.
MCCONAUGHEY: You said this role was most like you.
CHALAMET: Yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: Timothee. Why do you say that?
CHALAMET: Because it was the drive and it was, you know, I don't know what it's like being from Austin when you're from New York and you grow up in a box, your personality is all you have. Your personality is your armor. And I could really relate to that. Also, I was smaller than everyone growing up. I'm still smaller than everyone. And so you weaponize that? You know, I was like a crazy kid on the subway growing up. I'd be singing the French national anthem to impress the girls that were twice my size on the subway. You know what I mean?
And, someone loved that over there. You can relate to that. You know that little kid that was doing that. But -- and Marty is that guy. That's -- I love the life of impairment with the glasses and the bad skin and stuff because he's like, it's all attitude, man. I don't give a -- I'm the best table tennis player in the world. You can't take shit from me. MCCONAUGHEY: I wrote this about you. You tell me if I'm reading you
right.
CHALAMET: OK.
MCCONAUGHEY: All right? I see you right now as an artist with the perpetual artistic energy, unrested -- unrest ambition, obsession, the center of attention and exceptional ambiance at the same time. The young man blazing an original path without asking permission. An outlaw on the fringes and in the slipstream. Fearlessly choosing creative damage in the recreation of the humanities on screen your way. Is that fair?
CHALAMET: Man, yes, I can't say it better than that. Oh, man. I can't say it better than that.
MCCONAUGHEY: But you're not asking permission.
CHALAMET: That's what you said to me on the phone a year ago when we talked. And I was, it was strange to me. It was, it was strange to me. We caught up briefly and you said, it feels like you're not asking for permission. Is that correct? I said, yes, it was just such a strange framing. I don't know else to say it, but I feel like that's exactly where I am, Matthew. You know, I know 30 is young still, but I feel like I had a quarter midlife whatever.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: And feeling like, wait a second, I'm in the pocket. So if I'm in the pocket, I want to keep pushing it with everything.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: With, you know, people said it was like promo, but it's not promo. It's a creative extension of the movie, you know? And I'm restless and I'm hungry and I'm in the pocket, man, like people say I have like an athletic approach to this stuff, but I am inspired by Jordan, I'm inspired by Kobe, and I'm inspired by -- you know what I mean? Too few people have just taken what they're doing seriously. So I'm right there, man.
We should hang out more, Matthew. Come on, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey, we're doing it.
CHALAMET: We should hang out more, baby.
[19:20:01]
MCCONAUGHEY: In that spot, though, where you like, you said, oh, it's a miracle. And I know you're not a, you know, falsely, thankfully, falsely humble guy, but how much do you think you're being called and on this path and you're on it. And how much are you got your hands on the wheel? You're driving it, man.
CHALAMET: Man, thank God, man, no one's framed any questions like this to me, man. I'm so grateful you're asking things like this. I feel like I'm right in the driver's seat, man. Because I feel like as actors, you know, you get told what to say, or you're pushed or what projects to do and then, especially in this day and age, in social media, you get trashed online. So every incentive is to move in fear.
You know, not to sound like some pathetic self-help guru, but that's the kind of stuff that works sometimes, too, you know? And I don't want to move in fear. I want to move in confidence and joy. Joy in the position I'm in. Come on. This is rare stuff. And even to book "Interstellar" was rare. To have the career now. So I'm moving in gratitude and deep gratitude.
MCCONAUGHEY: Your gratitude has fangs. Thank you.
CHALAMET: I like that, too, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Thank you.
CHALAMET: Yes. I appreciate it.
MCCONAUGHEY: No, it does. It does, it does. Yes. Let's take another question from the audience. Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I'm Emily Martin, I'm a freshman studying radio, television and film here. My question is for you, Timothee. In "Marty Supreme," your character neglects the relationships in his life in the pursuit of excellence. How do you balance your personal relationships while engaging with several demanding projects?
CHALAMET: That's a great question. First of all, I'm incredibly lucky with the family and support system I've had from the beginning, and I know how lucky I am because I talk to peers of mine where they haven't had the same support system, where it's more the cliches of, hey, this person wants something out of you, or sometimes in a really dark way, in a financial way or whatever or, you know, it can be hard to get those dynamics.
I'm so grateful. Now she got ether, too.
(LAUGHTER)
CHALAMET: Be gone. No. And no, man, I've just been really lucky. You know, my parents, like pathologically, don't expect anything out of me to a fault maybe. I feel like some things I was too late to spring to, you know what I mean? As far as ways I could have stepped up, you know, and otherwise, my friends, it's a balancing act, though. It's definitely a balancing act. I want, you know, increasingly I want all my friends to win. So we can all relate to each other a little bit more. But --
MCCONAUGHEY: No, I hear you.
CHALAMET: No, that's a balancing act. I've been so lucky, you know? And in personal relationship now and love and life, you know, I've just been really lucky, man. And I've learned as I've gotten older to give it back, you know, because I was more like Marty in the beginning of life. I was like, give me all the love and support so I can do my thing. I was like a sponge for that, but I felt like I needed to be like that because I felt like Marty, like my back was against the wall.
But this is great, man. This is fucking awesome. These are real questions.
MCCONAUGHEY: Well, we're going to take a break.
CHALAMET: Cool.
MCCONAUGHEY: We'll be right back after that.
CHALAMET: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What co-star of yours do you think you learned the most from throughout your whole career? And like, what is it that you learned?
MCCONAUGHEY: Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:27:00]
CHALAMET: OK, here we go. We're back.
MCCONAUGHEY: All right. And we --
CHALAMET: We're back.
MCCONAUGHEY: Are back.
CHALAMET: All right, so this next clip, I'm really excited to talk to you about. Not only the clip, but the film project itself. This is the diagnosis scene from "Dallas Buyers Club," which Matthew notably won the Oscar for. And when we get into this, I'm going to ask you some questions right after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've tested positive for HIV which is the virus that causes AIDS.
MCCONAUGHEY: Are you kidding me? Am I that rock sucking Hudson bull shit?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Woodruff, have you ever used intravenous drugs? Have you ever engaged in homosexual conduct?
MCCONAUGHEY: Homo. Did you say homo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: That's what you said, didn't you? You fucking kidding me? I ain't no faggot, motherfucker. I don't even know no fucking faggot. Look at me. What do you see? Huh? A goddamn rodeo is what you see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Woodruff.
MCCONAUGHEY: All right? So fucking watch it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Woodruff, can you just --
MCCONAUGHEY: No, I can't do shit. You speak fucking English, motherfucker. Call me a motherfucking faggot, I'll whip your fucking ass, boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHALAMET: See, I'm glad to see you laughing, man. That makes it way less awkward to ask questions about that.
MCCONAUGHEY: You know, I remember, I knew, I observed some of these people. What are we in? Are we early '80s when HIV came about, to say or insinuate that you had HIV, those are fighting words. You call them, like you said, you call me a faggot, it's like -- it was, it was. And I saw and heard people talk and defend like, let's take it outside, motherfucker. I'll whip your -- don't you, it was like. And you see the fear, but yet you're standing up and how, and at that time it was those, that was, and I remember, there was somebody I had in mind. I won't say who they are. But there was someone I had in mind that was from a memory I think back in 1980 and how they reacted to a situation like that. It wasn't about the --
CHALAMET: Something you saw in person or?
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes. Yes. Then I remember that was very Ron Woodruff at that time. Yes.
CHALAMET: Some 10 years later now when you look at the physical requirements of that role and you were kind of coming off it on "Interstellar," too. Ten years later now, would you do something like that again with that physical requirement on your body, or is that something you think --
MCCONAUGHEY: I lost 47 pounds. That was not hard to do because I just got regimented, got obsessed. This is what I have to do. If I show up in a scene not looking like I have HIV, if I showed up looking like I do now, people in the first frame are going to go, bull shit. That's embarrassing. I didn't do my job. I fumbled the ball. It's your job requirement. So to do that I gave myself five months to do it and lost the weight and then was just regiment about it. Camilla was taking care of my meals. I didn't go to the pizza. I didn't go to the pizza joint and walk down the line and go, I'll just have a salad.
[19:30:06]
No, I was pretty hermetical, I stayed inside and had my own meals, but just became very regimented about it. And I will tell you this, the power that I lost in my body sublimated equally to my brain. My brain, I could remember clinical memory like it expounded threefold than what it was prior.
CHALAMET: So, you would be up for it again?
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, yes. It was just like, this little, just gymnastics.
CHALAMET: What if I was to put on 75 pounds?
MCCONAUGHEY: Well, I put on another 40 on goal and got 223. I could have swam through the canals naked in Amsterdam and not even got a cold. I was like the abominable snowman.
CHALAMET: What did you like better?
MCCONAUGHEY: Well, it was a whole lot more fun at 223.
CHALAMET: Why?
MCCONAUGHEY: And my family sure thinks so as well because I was a consumer.
CHALAMET: What did your wife like better?
MCCONAUGHEY: Oh, 223, bro.
CHALAMET: She liked that.
MCCONAUGHEY: Oh, I was, I had a lot of energy and I gave myself license to go be a glutton for three -and-a-half months and when you wake up and look in the mirror on Monday morning after you gained another four pounds from all the fried chicken you ate that weekend --
CHALAMET: Holy sh*t.
MCCONAUGHEY: --look at yourself and go, great job buddy.
CHALAMET: That's good man. How'd you lose it after?
MCCONAUGHEY: Kind of still am, you get a few things happen that you're going, it's a year later, why is that still hanging around?
CHALAMET: Okay.
MCCONAUGHEY: You know, you've got another question.
JACOB GONZALEZ, STUDENT: Hi. My name is Jacob Gonzalez. I'm a senior here studying RTF, radio, television and film. And my question is for both of y'all. So, Timothee, Matthew, which one of y'all has the weirder daily routine?
CHALAMET: The weirder daily routine?
GONZALEZ: Yes.
CHALAMET: Oh, this guy for sure, I'm sure.
MCCONAUGHEY: I don't even need to know he is and I'll say guilty, yes. He says I always smell good.
CHALAMET: He does, he smells amazing. You know what's funny? I saw a clip of Matthew and Austin Butler online a couple of years ago or like a year ago. Anybody else see this clip? Anybody see this -- you know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, Matthew and Austin both are beautiful these beautiful men, I've never said this to you but, like. Matthew and Austin could talk to you like, two inches closer than you're normally used to someone talking to you but they both do it.
So, I'm watching this clip, man, and it's like I saw Matthew get closer to Austin, Austin get closer to Matthew, and Matthew get closer to Austin and Austin -- I was like, they're going to do it, they're going to do it. They're going to kiss. But I love seeing that man, because I don't have that, I don't have that instinct. It's like he's got that alpha thing. I don't have that.
If I came up to you right now and I was talking you three inches from me like, yo, get the away and you'd be able to you'd be able to go like that. You can't do that. Oh man, I love that clip.
MCCONAUGHEY: I've not seen this clip.
CHALAMET: You know what I'm talking about.
MCCONAUGHEY: There you go, next question. Sorry.
CHANNING GRACE, STUDENT: Hi, my name is Channing Grace, I'm a freshman acting major here at U.T. and my question is for you, Matthew. What costar of yours do you think you learned the most from throughout your whole career? And, like what is it that you learned?
MCCONAUGHEY: Wow, I remember on "Contact," Jodie Foster, we're talking, I was learning at that time what preparation means, so I was starting, I hadn't really done preparation before. I was learning how to break down scripts and make choices and make and creative choices, affirmative ones forward for my character, my man.
And also starting to learn how if you get in trouble, here's how to kind of get back out and in doing so she brought up the scene she was like, you know, it's like choreography. He goes, but you have to watch it because there's some great actors who don't choreograph enough, don't make choices. But there's also ones that over choreograph and you can see the choreography. And if you see the choreography, we're not doing a good job of acting.
The biggest compliment I think an actor can get, can get, can be given is after every film people go, oh that's you, that's you. Yes, it was. No matter how different they all are, because you didn't see the work. I mean, you just kind of look so easy, thank you. Like do the work, but the work shouldn't look hard on screen. You don't want to see the work. You want to see the choreography. You don't want to see the choices you do that extremely well.
CHALAMET: Thank you, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Right, I don't see you making any of the and I know how many choices you made. I don't know, but I know you made a lot but I don't see him.
CHALAMET: Like what you said. If someone says, that was you and you go, yes, it was. I like that.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: I'm taking that with me. We're going to tap in now with a great clip from the golden age defining T.V. show "True Detective".
This is the fate of all life seen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONAUGHEY: So, death created time to grow the things that it would kill and you are reborn. But into the same life that you've always been born into and how many times have we had this conversation, detectives, who knows? You can't remember your lives. You can't change your lives and that is a terrible and secret fate of all life. You're trapped like that nightmare you keep waking up into.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:35:50]
CHALAMET: Wow, that's amazing, man. I love --
MCCONAUGHEY: I'm laughing because when you cut to the detectives and I'm sitting there putting myself in their shoes and I'm over there going like, what the f**k is he talking about?
CHALAMET: Exactly. That's how I got, that sense of tears through this time. Tell me about that, man. Was that a no brainer to do? That was also at a time when people were a little more bougie about.
MCCONAUGHEY: You weren't going over to do T.V. if you'd been successful though.
CHALAMET: Yes, I think you broke down those barriers though. But at the time, those things were thick.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, so, that script comes along. I'm turning the pages and I cannot wait to see what comes out of this character, Rustin Cole's mouth every single page. It was just hot sh*t and the identity was so clear.
I then go; oh, there's that question on T.V. What are you doing going to T.V.? And I remember calling my agent, Jim Toth, and I was like, lets raise this, this question, something we should raise. And he goes, why do you go after all? I go, man, I want a great role, and I want and being a great story, I want great character. I want to be a great story. And he goes, you hear what you said? I said, yes. And I didn't say a damn thing about what size screen it's on, let's go.
And we made the decision in 12 seconds. So, we do it. It worked. I missed that series. I miss it today, I miss watching, yes. Yes, I really enjoyed, we watched, Camilla and I didn't watch. I had everything early, but I didn't watch it all through. I watched it like everyone else every Sunday night.
CHALAMET: Awesome.
MCCONAUGHEY: And so, I would have the same watercooler talk as anyone else was having on Monday morning, because I didn't remember where the episode edits were.
CHALAMET: Do you ever go back and watch that "True Detective" or no? Have you watched the -- maybe I shouldn't ask you that.
MCCONAUGHEY: No, I've watched it that one time. I've never watched it again. I've never seen anything I've done twice.
CHALAMET: Really?
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: Really, no way. Come on. You've seen "Interstellar" once? No, come on, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: No, that's it.
CHALAMET: Okay, no CNN, no variety. You've seen "Interstellar" once.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: Really?
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: No way man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: You're doing yourself a disservice, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Maybe so, I'm a little uncomfortable going back. And I must say, now that I do have children, when we flip through or any of my films get brought up as possible things for us to watch my kids go, yeah, let's do that one next week. So, my kids haven't seen 95 percent of the stuff I've done.
CHALAMET: Really.
MCCONAUGHEY: One day they look back and go, hey, pop wasn't half bad at that but they haven't seen hardly any. They like to skip that, on this subject.
CHALAMET: I don't know if I believe, that--
MCCONAUGHEY: That I have only seen it once.
CHALAMET: "Interstellar" once.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: No way man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Well, you've seen it 20, something times.
CHALAMET: I know, it's just, I can't believe it. I can't believe that. I'm guessing you actually have seen it four or five times.
MCCONAUGHEY: No.
CHALAMET: Okay.
MCCONAUGHEY: I don't mean, if I did, I'm really not trying to hide it. I just, I'm not that comfortable I don't know, I'm not that comfortable. It's such a, it's a workout scene for me seeing movies that I've done. Meaning each frame something in my head goes back to the day and the preparation for the day and all the intricacies that that one scene that you saw in 90 seconds took two days.
CHALAMET: Right, that's true.
MCCONAUGHEY: And I'm like, whoa, you know.
CHALAMET: All right.
MCCONAUGHEY: Let's take another question from the audience.
CHALAMET: All right.
QUENTIN CHU, STUDENT: Hi, my name is Quentin Chu, and I'm a freshman studying radio, television and film here at U.T. This is a question for Timothee. I saw your interview with Cody Rhodes, and I heard a lot about your love for professional wrestling. And I'm a big fan of wrestling myself. And I was wondering if that has sort of influenced the way that you approach acting or the way that you approach telling stories?
CHALAMET: Man, hugely. I love that question. No one, do not let him be ethered, I want to speak straight to him. No, I love that question. Professional wrestling for me was sort of a guidepost growing up because I wanted to be an athlete. I just didn't have the skill, the body the physique, the speed and acting was sort of, I grew up in an actors building, whatever and it wasn't my dream at its core. I, you know, it just wasn't for whatever reason.
WWE professional wrestling was somewhere in the middle. It was like the titans of athletes both men and women but with this showmanship and storytelling. It's planned, it's scripted, it's fake. Some people say, but the blows are real, the bruises are real. So, it is hugely inspirational and then not to get too pretentious, but almost like in a Greek theater setting, the archetypes these guys represent, you know, I love the wrestler named The Boogeyman. And he was just archetypally nightmarish, you know.
[19:40:21]
You know, even going back to it could be kind of cheesy sometimes, but it made me, I don't know, it's like they say when you're a teenager, things imprint on your brain more than they ever do later in life. And you see this, like, Bad Bunny tapping in or iso speed and stuff like that. I just feel like it's of the people, no matter how cheesy that sounds, you know?
And New York is sort of like a weird spot on the map of the world or America, because New York, you can get the highest of the high and the lowest of the low and WWE is more like an Americana thing, you know? But New York's got a lot of love for WWE, you know. I went to Survivor Series when I was like 14-15 years old. I was walking at Madison Square Garden. I got a one ticket alone for just me and I heard Booker-T's theme song, and it was like a New York crowd, man. It was like rough around the edges. It wasn't like a NASCAR crowd per se, you know, and said respectfully, University of Texas, you know, no one ether me at this chair.
But no, I love that framing of that question, too because a risk of repeating myself, professional wrestling, all it's represented is deeply archetypal storytelling. It's war of the worlds, and it's not told in a pretentious manner. It's not about cinematic shots or whatever, but it gets to a core thing, man, and its populists of the people, there's nothing like WWE man at the entrance they should pay me for saying this. The entrance themes, the vibe in there. I love the question, I did not expect you to ask that at all, man that's awesome. Let's go, why go to WWE --
MCCONAUGHEY: What's your wrestling name?
CHALAMET: What would my wrestling name be? Like the French Fool.
MCCONAUGHEY: The French Fool. All right, we're going to be right back with the French Fool, here we go, yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to know, do you plan on making a return to rap music or extending your discography anytime soon?
CHALAMET: First of all --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:51]
CHALAMET: All right, we are back. Let's start with another audience question.
LAURA ALCANTARA, STUDENT: I'm Laura Alcantara, and I'm a freshman studying theater and dance here at U.T. This is a question for both Timothee Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey.
Mr. Chalamet and Mr. McConaughey you both have been part of the film industry for numerous years and have seen it change throughout the years. How do you think the film industry will change with the rise of new technologies such as A.I.? What steps do you think will be taken to ensure that Artificial Intelligence doesn't replace creatives, but is rather used as a helpful tool?
CHALAMET: Wow, that's a great question.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes. and we kick off, let me kick off. So, first off, it's coming. It's already here, don't deny it. Don't just creative world. It's not enough. It may be for you but it's not going to be enough to sit on the sidelines and make the moral plea, the moral plea that no, this is wrong. It's not going to last. There's too much money to be made and it's too productive, it's here. All right, so I say get your own, your own yourself voice, likeness, et cetera, trademark whatever you got to do.
CHALAMET: So, you did that?
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, own yourself. So, when and if, when it comes. Not if it comes. No one can steal you. But they're going to have to come to you to go. Can I? Or they're going to be in breach and you'll have the chance to be your own agency and go, yes for this amount or no, okay. It's coming, is there going to be another category or is it going to infiltrate our category? It's sure going to infiltrate our category. I think it'll end up. Does it become another category?
Will we be in five years having films, the best A.I. film? The best A.I. actor? Maybe, I think it might be, that might be the thing is that it becomes another category. I'm not sure. It's going to be in front of us in ways that we don't even see it. It's going to get so good; we're not going to know the difference. That's one of the big questions of what we're doing right now is the question of reality. That's, it's more hazy than ever in a very exciting way, I think. But also, a scary way.
It's not only coming, it's here. I say prep for it and own your own lane, so when it comes, you can at least have your own agency when it starts to trespass.
CHALAMET: That's great, that, you know, I think it's going to be all of our war to wage, sounds confrontational. I don't mean to say it like that, but it's a dual responsibility. Unfortunately, for your guys, your generation, I think it's going to be you guys that figure out how to integrate it.
There's a huge part of people that are in positions of power now, like myself, like Matthew to safekeep that doors stay open that's like very, that's extremely important. Some of the roles, I got that helped kickstart my career. I don't even know if they're available today, not because of A.I., but because of less T.V. being produced, less streaming being produced, and yet there's a level of fatalism, I feel too, where I'm like okay, these things coming. So, it really is, it will be on your generation and mine to an extent, to know how to, to some extent, ethically integrate it if at all, or do away with it. But the fatalist in me feels like this stuff is coming you know, and the dreamer in me wants to go, hey, if it enables a 19-year-old to produce something they couldn't otherwise because there's gatekeepers standing in the way, then, but ultimately, it's not my place to say. But that was the most serious question, I feel like that was asked today because it's like, that's the thing, you know? And I'm fiercely protective of actors and artists, artisans, you know, in this industry. Anyway, that was a great question, man and TBC like in ten years in five years, in ten years, we'll know where that's going.
MCCONAUGHEY: Hey let's check out a clip of yours from "Dune". This is a speech to the to the Fremen, where Paul addresses the gathered Fremen and assumes the mantle as their Messiah, Muad'Dib.
[19:50:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHALAMET: This is my father's Ducal Signet. I am Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis.
(Speaking in mythical language)
TRANSLATION: The Hand of God be my witness. I am the Voice from Outer World! I will lead you to Paradise!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHALAMET: Oh yes.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, sort of very mythical religious and biblical story. One, where you have a generic heritage to destroy then rise from the dead and walk among your people or through your people and then take back your father's name as the voice from the Outer World and swear to lead them all to paradise. Messiah or false prophet, Muad'Dib.
CHALAMET: Yes, a little bit of both.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: A little bit of both.
MCCONAUGHEY: So, when you're working something like this and "Interstellar" to a different extent, because that's still sort of based in a modern reality. But if you go into the mythos of future world creation like this, do you find or do you approach it as an actor with more freedom of choice in the way that you were explaining WWE, the mythos of it? It's a heightened reality.
Or are you playing, hey, no, this is an old myth, the dark and the light, the false prophet it's been around since before the Bible, what? Are you playing the realities given to you? Or are you heightening them because you're going, oh, this is in the future, I have license.
CHALAMET: No, there is something heightened, I think on the second and third one I took more liberty than ever. I can't wait for you guys to see this third one. This is like I'm so proud of it. We finished it last summer. you know, watching Oscar Isaac on the first movie was terrific in Frankenstein this year, too.
He treated it in a Shakespearean way. I was, I was so impressed with him on set. That is to say, like you said, play it heightened and not really, you know, not really care about it being heightened, you know. I think on the second movie and the third movie, though, I found a certain freedom of choice within it. I can't wait for this third one. It's the eeriest one.
MCCONAUGHEY: It is.
CHALAMET: It's a big swing. You know, the "Dune" films, maybe the films I'm most proud of, you know, especially with this third one, is going to land. But what I think you see at the end of the second one, and I think across the third one, as you see yourself in "Interstellar" and Heath Ledger in the "Dark Knight" and Marlon Brando in "Apocalypse Now," stuff like that actually, wait, let me rephrase all of that hold up. I cannot put myself in that in the same boat. I don't know how to rephrase that.
MCCONAUGHEY: Carry on --
CHALAMET: Let's just say, you know, it's these big movies where you could sneak in something, a curveball, you know.
MCCONAUGHEY: Let's do small audience questions.
CHALAMET: Come on, let's do it, let's do it.
MCCONAUGHEY: What you got, sir?
PRESLEY, STUDENT: Hey. Hi, Matthew, hi, Timothee. My name is Presley, and I'm a senior radio television film major here at U.T. I just want to say thank you guys for doing this so much. It's amazing to meet two of my idols, so.
CHALAMET: It's nice to be here.
MCCONAUGHEY: You're welcome, right on.
PRESLEY: My question is for you, Timothee. Your recent collaboration with SD kid was a massive, iconic moment across social media, and we really got to see you spit some bars. So, I want to know, do you plan on making a return to rap music or extending your discography anytime soon?
CHALAMET: First of all.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: First of all, I have no clue what you're talking about. PRESLEY: Okay, sure.
CHALAMET: And second of all, no, man. I mean not particularly. I think when I've worked even on the "Dillon" movie on a complete unknown I don't know if you felt like this with your peers. I think it's so easy to think, oh, these things are like each other, that it's to say like working in film or working in music and, you know, Frank Ocean is a gift from God.
Like Justin Bieber has a gift from God like the voices are heavenly you know, and I think Matthew is a gift from God on screen, you know, and those things rarely -- not rarely, I don't want to say that, but like, it's hard to see them. So, I've always had total humility at the idea of like doing a music thing. And I would never want it to be a vanity project. You know, you're making a thing and all your friends are like, this is amazing. And you put it out and everyone sh*ts on it, you know? And that would be my big fear. That's my answer.
MCCONAUGHEY: All right, what's your next question?
CHALAMET: Hello.
ALEXIS HAINES, STUDENT: Hi, I'm Alexis Haines. I'm a junior studying radio television, film at U.T. and I have a question for both Matthew and Timothee. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes, two things, I know that you want to be older because in your mind it's cooler. That's cool but don't rush, it'll come and I know you love risk and you take them take more, yes.
[19:55:32]
CHALAMET: Whoa. That's a tough one to follow. Oh, mine's way cheesier than that. It would just be to soak in the moments more, enjoy them as Matthew said, no rush. On a practical level, make choices that are comforting to your soul and your spirit, and that you know how to do that. I don't have a good answer, yours is way better. It's hard to say because I would tell him, don't change anything, man it went great, it went great. Don't f**k it up.
MCCONAUGHEY: Yes.
CHALAMET: Seriously, thank you, man.
MCCONAUGHEY: Okay we're going to have to leave it here. Thank you to the students and to the University of Texas for hosting us. And thank you to my good friend, really good to hang with you again, sir Mr. Timothee Chalamet.
CHALAMET: Wow, thank you, thank you, Matthew.
(APPLAUSE)
CHALAMET: Thank you, Matthew.
MCCONAUGHEY: You are welcome, man.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:00:00]
