Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves recently met Pope Leo XIV at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. However, the encounter did not go exactly as he expected. He went into the meeting with a few things he wanted to discuss but soon realized that trying to prepare for the conversation was like writing an Oscar speech.
Matthew McConaughey recalls his unexpected meeting with Pope Leo XIV while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
During an August 12 appearance on The Tonight Show, the Oscar winner chatted with Jimmy Fallon about his new movie, The Rivals of Amziah King, set to release on August 21. Then the 56-year-old shared details about his encounter with Pope. He said, “I had some things I wanted to talk to him about. But if you prepare things to talk to the Pope about, it’s kind of like preparing a speech before the Oscars.”
“You don’t know if you’re going to win, so if you win and you pull out a speech, it’s kind of arrogant, right? To go like, ‘Well, I had a speech written.’ So you show up to meet the Pope, and you have some things to say, and we went off script anyway,” the actor added.
McConaughey said he had a pleasant conversation with the Pope and noted that the pontiff made him laugh. He described that a good sense of humor is something he has noticed among many of the holiest and most spiritual people he has met. Also added, “In the words of my buddy [‘Dazed and Confused’ filmmaker] Richard Linklater: ‘You make humor the default emotion, we’re all going to be getting along a lot better.'”
The actor has been candid in the past about how spirituality has influenced his life. He discussed his spiritual journey in a 2020 interview with Relevant magazine. McConaughey recalled visiting the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico. The actor said he was struggling with “the excesses of fame” at the time. The actor said he spent four hours confessing to a monk while feeling overwhelmed and emotional. The monk’s response was simply, “Me too.” The actor said he firmly believes in God. He explained that while God provides the path, individuals are responsible for making their own choices.
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