Matthew McConaughey ‘privileged’ to turn down work

Matthew McConaughey felt it was a ”real privilege” to turn down work.

The 44-year-old actor – who picked up the Best Actor – Drama prize at Sunday’s (01.12.14) Golden Globe awards for his work in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ – has seen his career transition from romantic comedies and action movies to grittier critically-acclaimed projects and says he was able to make the move as he was in a position to take time out until the right material came along.

Matthew – who has children Levi, five, Vida, four, and Livingston, 12 months, with wife Camila Alves – said: ”I had a few things going for me. One, I had enough money in my bank account where I could say, ‘I’m going to say no to some things that I’ve been saying yes to,’ and my rent is going to be paid and the kids are going to eat.

”That was a real privilege to be able to say that at the time… plus I had a first child coming into the world [and I] said, ‘I’m going to say, no to some things for a while.

”I got down with my wife and said the same thing, I said, ‘I don’t know how long it’s going to be dry’ and it did dry out. It dried up for about 18 months to two years.”

The ‘Fool’s Gold’ star insists he has no regrets about turning down work.

He told ‘Access Hollywood’: ”There’s nothing in the past that I passed on that I actually regret. There was a rumor that I had ‘Titanic,’ and turned it down. That was actually false. I don’t know why [James] Cameron said that. I never got an official offer.”

And the hunky star insists he was happy with his work before he took a break but he was just keen to give himself a new challenge.

He said: ”My career was going fine. I enjoyed my career. I enjoyed romantic comedies. I enjoyed the action comedies. I enjoyed the action movies that I was doing. I enjoyed all those. I just wanted to shake up my career, recalibrate, shift gears, and evolve a little bit to do something that was turning me on at this time in my life.

”Call that turning 40 as a man, I don’t know. It could be many things. Call it having a family. All of these things add to it.”