14 DAY TRIAL // To the surprise of absolutely no one, Matthew McConaughey won Best Actor at the Oscars 2014 for his brilliant performance in “Dallas Buyers Club.” Above is a video of his acceptance speech, which was the perfect combination of funny, humble and to the point.
McConaughey, once a fixture at the box office with his love for rom-coms, made the leap into more serious roles some years ago, but it’s just now that he’s getting this kind of critical recognition. He didn’t seem too surprised at winning, which is ok, because he absolutely deserved to.
For the role of a cowboy who discovers he has AIDS and is told he has only days to live, Matthew lost a lot of weight, which in itself was bound to get him some media attention. The Academy sure loves it when actors transform themselves physically for a part without help from makeup and prosthetics, history proves – and Matthew’s win confirms.
However, that’s not to say that he didn’t deserve to win, because he did.
In his speech, the actor thanked God for being his number one role model, the only one to whom he looked up to. He also said that the 3 things that kept him going were “one of them is something to look up to, another is something to look forward to and another is someone to chase.”
His fellow nominees were also mentioned, Chiwetel Ejiofor of “12 Years a Slave,” Leonardo DiCaprio of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Christian Bale of “American Hustle” and Bruce Dern of “Nebraska.” In a very sweet gesture, before going up on stage, after hugging co-star Jared Leto, Matthew gave DiCaprio a big bear-hug.
He also thanked his father, whom he imagined up in heaven in his underwear, with a cold one in his hand, dancing around for joy. His mom was next on the list, for teaching him and his brothers to be humble and grateful.
Matthew also thanked his wife Camilla Alves, who was tearing up in the audience, and their children together, saying they were the only ones he ever really wanted to make proud of his work.
Last but not least, Matthew thanked himself for winning. This actually sounds worse than it was: the theme of the night was heroes, and he recalled how someone once asked him who his hero was. Matthew said he answered that it was himself in 10 years, an answer he gives that person every decade, when they bring up the same question.
In other words, “I will never be my own hero.” Or, to put it differently, such outstanding achievement is only possible if you always strive to be your best self possible.