TOMS Founder Blake Mycoskie Tells Matthew McConaughey How Success Broke Him

Summary

Podcrushed x No Magic Pill: Blake Mycoskie & Matthew McConaughey on Success, Identity, and Healing

Date: May 5, 2026
Guests: Blake Mycoskie (TOMS founder, No Magic Pill host)
Special Guest: Matthew McConaughey (actor, author)
Summary compiled by Podcrushed Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode features a special crossover: TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie sits down with actor and author Matthew McConaughey for a deep, honest conversation about the emotional consequences of success, the struggle with self-worth, and practical paths to healing. Blake, after reaching the pinnacle of material and entrepreneurial achievement yet feeling empty, introduces his new podcast “No Magic Pill”—aimed at frank conversations about mental health and resilience.

In this excerpt, the two men delve into personal stories of breakdown and breakthrough, the hard work of self-forgiveness, navigating identity beyond fame or achievement, and the difference between “resumé” accomplishments and the deeper substance of a meaningful life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The False Promise of Success

• Blake on His Collapse at the Top (02:49–03:11)
  • Despite achieving huge external success, Blake confesses he was “quietly falling apart”:
    • “On paper, it looked like I had everything, but at the peak of my success, I was quietly falling apart, alone with my thoughts. There were nights I would have done anything just to stop the pain.” [02:49]
• Both men acknowledge that external markers of achievement don’t resolve inner turmoil.

Exploring Identity and the Myth of ‘Not Enough’

• Matthew asks where Blake’s feeling of insufficiency came from (02:41)
  • The conversation centers on how even outwardly accomplished people internalize a belief that they aren’t “enough.”
• Blake reflects on starting his healing journey and wanting honest answers—especially from those who've “walked into the wilderness of [their] own mind.” [03:18]

Radical Solitude and the Wilderness Retreat

• Matthew describes his self-imposed desert retreat (03:40, 08:14):
  • “I packed all my diaries away, along with my steaks, water, and tequila, and went to a place in the middle of the desert where I was locked in with nothing but me and…my past…Who the hell do we think we are putting that limit on ourselves? We can go higher and wider and deeper to find things out than I think we do. That action keeps giving you the same damn result. And the ROI sucked.” [03:40, 06:47]

The Turning Point: “Day 12” and Forgiveness

• Matthew outlines the emotional ‘initiation period’ when going off alone:
  • “For me, it’s around day 12…it was around day 12 where all of a sudden I have a purge or a wake-up and I go, okay, dude, what are we going to forgive and what are we going to change?...That action keeps giving you the same damn result. The ROI sucks. Cut it out.” [09:02]
• Blake agrees: “You're not holding on so tight. Some of those first 10 days, it’s all coming in.” [09:57]

The Power of Simple Routines

• Matthew on how physical movement and simple tasks help break the mental logjam (10:17–12:05):
  • “If you can have some physical movement—a trek, a hike—to move the body is helpful…sometimes that simple repetition of accomplishing a simple task can get the momentum that you need to get clear in the head.” [10:17, 11:50]
  • “Deal with what’s right in front of you for long enough, one in a row, enough times—and we start to get out of the cave.” [12:05]

Mantras and Reprogramming Self-Worth

• Blake shares a practical exercise from his psychiatrist (13:08–14:20):
  • For 40 days, he repeated: “I'm enough. I’ve always been enough. I’m enough. I’ve always been enough.” 20 minutes each morning and evening.
  • “First couple weeks it sucked. Day 28, I started feeling better. By day 40, I really started to believe it…prolong the potential, expect the discomfort to be longer…when it’s not, you’ll get through it.” [13:41]

“Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should”

• Matthew tells a story about success, abundance, and unnecessary complication (14:33–18:19):
  • Anecdote about being excited that a housekeeper pressed his jeans, despite not liking pressed jeans—“Because I never…it was never an option before in my life.”
  • Blake relates this to his own “over-the-top” house after selling TOMS: “As soon as I moved into the house, I looked around and I was like, I don't wanna take care of all this shit…I had a lot of fun building it because I thought I wanted it…instead, six months in, I said, we're going to Costa Rica, simplifying life.” [17:13]
  • Matthew: “Not enough of a good thing sucks, but a close second is too much of a good thing.” [17:09]

Life Edits: Knowing When to Simplify

• Both reflect on intentional “edits” to their lifestyles (18:05–21:13):
  • Matthew talks about traveling—his need to “go to places where no one knew my name” after fame (e.g., Peru as “Mateo”), for a reset and to reaffirm identity apart from celebrity.
  • Blake agrees, highlighting the healing that comes from being seen not as an icon but as a human being.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Blake Mycoskie, on hitting bottom despite huge achievement:
  • “At the peak of my success, I was quietly falling apart…nights I would’ve done anything just to stop the pain.” [02:49]
• Matthew McConaughey, on self-limiting beliefs:
  • “Who the hell do we think we are, putting that limit on ourselves? We can go higher and wider and deeper to find things out than I think we do.” [06:47]
• Matthew, on too much of a good thing:
  • “Not enough of a good thing sucks, but a close second is too much of a good thing.” [17:09]
• Blake, on his post-success mansion:
  • “I don't wanna take care of all this shit…six months into living in the house, I said, we're going to Costa Rica, simplifying life.” [17:13]
• Matthew, on solo retreats:
  • “I packed all my diaries away, along with my steaks, water, and tequila, and went to a place in the middle of the desert where I was locked in with nothing but me and who I’ve been in my past…” [03:40]
• Blake, on healing as a process and practice:
  • “For 40 days, I committed…it felt silly, stupid, all the demons were coming in saying don’t listen…By day 40, I really started to believe it.” [13:41]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:41] – Matthew asks Blake about his identity crisis post-TOMS
• [03:11] – Blake shares emotional low point at peak success
• [03:40–04:27] – Matthew explains his radical solo retreat and search for breakthrough
• [05:19–06:50] – McConaughey reads poem from “Greenlights”; discussion on self-imposed limits and Icarus myth
• [07:44] – Resumé vs. eulogy: looking back on life and learning from shame/guilt
• [08:34–09:57] – Initiation period of solitude, emotional purging, and forgiveness
• [10:06–12:05] – Concrete advice: movement, simple repetitive tasks, “chop wood, carry water”
• [13:08–14:20] – Blake’s “I’m enough” mantra and experience retraining self-worth
• [14:33–18:19] – Story: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” and dialing back excess
• [18:19–21:13] – Matthew on re-grounding travel experiences and finding identity beyond external validation

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Takeaways

This conversation provides a rare, intimate look at how mindsets built around achievement can backfire, and how both Mycoskie and McConaughey have found ways—through solitude, routine, honest self-confrontation, and community—to “edit” their lives and rediscover worth beyond fame and fortune.

The refrains are clear: Progress is incremental (“one in a row”), discomfort is inevitable, and true healing is found not in more, but in deeper connection to self.

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For more, search “No Magic Pill” to hear the extended conversation.

Transcript

[Blake Mycoski]

Lemonade.

[Matthew McConaughey]

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[Blake Mycoski]

I see my co worker in line at the pharmacy. Can you tell I'm picking up prescription hemorrhoid cream? I'm probably standing weird. Why is he smiling? He knows he's gonna call me Hemorrhoid Lloyd tomorrow.

[Matthew McConaughey]

I know it.

[Blake Mycoski]

I gotta quit my job.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Next time, avoid awkward conversations and get fast free delivery with amaz. Pharmacy healthcare just got less painful. Hi, it's Julia. Louis Dreyfus here and I can't wait for you to hear our new episode of Wiser Than Me with Cyndi Lauper on Amazon Music. Cindy may be a girl who just wants to have fun, but for 40 years she has brought playfulness and a dash of punk to some serious activism. We we talk about her lifelong LGBTQ advocacy, her astonishing music career, and pick up a whole lot of wisdom along the way. Listen now only on Amazon Music, included with Prime.

[Blake Mycoski]

Hey, it's Blake Mycoski, the founder of Toms Shoes. I'm dropping into your feed to share. My new podcast with you is called no Magic Pill. Because there is no magic pill when it comes to healing our mind. I have firsthand experience as a successful entrepreneur. I gave away millions of shoes, built one of the most recognized brands on the planet, sold it for hundreds of millions of dollars, and then totally fell apart. At the peak of my success, I felt utterly empty. After a year long journey through every therapy and treatment imaginable, I finally started talking honestly about the dark side of success and the reality of mental health. That's what this podcast is all about. In no Magic Pill, I travel the country to sit down with survivors, experts and cultural icons who have looked into the darkness and found a way out. No magic pills, no quick fixes. These are honest conversations about the daily choices that big and small, that create a path forward. You're about to hear a clip from my Conversation with Matthew McConaughey produced by Lemonade Media and the Enough Foundation. To listen to the full episode with Matthew, just search for no Magic Pill wherever you get your podcast or click the link in the show notes and make sure to follow so you don't miss a single episode.

[Matthew McConaughey]

How do you come out of what you've done with Tom's going through an identity crisis of thinking you're not enough? Where did that narrative come from?

[Blake Mycoski]

Hi, I'm Blake Mycoski. As the founder of Toms Shoes, I helped millions of kids and I built a global empire. On paper, it looked like I had everything, but at the peak of my success, I was Quietly falling apart, alone with my thoughts. There were nights I would have done anything just to stop the pain.

[Matthew McConaughey]

The guilt can get really heavy. The shame can get heavy. I do not enjoy my own company.

[Blake Mycoski]

I started this podcast to connect with others who had reached the pinnacle of achievement, only to find profound emptiness. To learn from people I respect and admire. My first guest, Matthew McConaughey, has walked into the wilderness of his own mind and found something he could live by.

[Matthew McConaughey]

I packed all my diaries away, along with my steaks, water, and tequila, and went to a place in the middle of the desert where I was locked in with nothing but me and who I've been in my past or my diaries. Who the hell do we think we are putting that limit on ourselves? We can go higher and wider and deeper to find things out than I think we. We do. That action keeps giving you the same damn result. And the ROI sucked.

[Blake Mycoski]

Matthew is living proof that healing doesn't come from a single breakthrough. It's about knowing who you are. Matthew's wisdom on how to take control of your destiny really helped me during some of my darkest times. It might have even saved my life.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Bam. There comes the breakthrough.

[Blake Mycoski]

In your first book, Green Lights. One of my favorite parts is you talk about how you got the part for Wooderson Dazed and Confused, and you say you knew your man. Yep. And in other times in your career when you've had an incredible performance, you said, I knew my man.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yep.

[Blake Mycoski]

So my goal today is simple. My goal is for our listeners and anyone watching this to know their man. Yay. And their man is Matthew McConaughey.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Okay.

[Blake Mycoski]

Okay, so. So let's get started with. Let's do it with this.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah. Coins and prayers.

[Blake Mycoski]

I love this book. I mean, you can see right here, I have dog eared and so many pieces. And we'll never get through all of my questions and poems that I love to read. But I want to start with what the poem is on the back, and I'd love for you to read it because you had to choose one poem for the back. So if you'll read it and then tell us why you chose that one, that'll be a great way to kick it off.

[Matthew McConaughey]

The victor sees the light last. The final believer wins the crown. Don't pull the parachute too early. Fly until you touch down. It's a lightning bolt. It's a. It's. It's magnanimous enough to go. Wait, what are you talking about? But everyone can put their own story. Wait a minute. What do you mean the. The Victor, what's the last light? So this is a bit of. I'm a fan of Icarus in reverse. You know the story of Icarus? He's. He's flying up near the sun with his. With. With his son.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. To not get too close.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Don't. And the sun wants to go. The s o n sun wants to closer to the su in son. But the father goes, oh, don't do that, man. You're. The wax on your wings will melt and you'll fall to the earth. Yeah, well, you know, kid does. And wax melts and goes down. He falls because he got too close to the sun. I think what we need is to fly much closer.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yes.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Meaning. All right, we so often go, oh, it's getting hot. My wings. My wax on my wings might melt. And it's freaking 45 degrees, man. You're not even. It's not even sweating yet. So it's that. It's what I talk about in green lights. Man made roofs, certain ceilings, mortal ceilings we put on ourselves. And it's a very arrogant thing to do.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Who the hell do we think we are putting that limit on ourselves?

[Blake Mycoski]

Totally.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And it's through comparison and consumerism, what the world says, how we feel about ourselves. Can it be this good if it's going good? Wait, could I do that? Could that be me? I don't know. These things that are. That are man made and so that don't pull the parachute. We pull the parachute too early. I know I'm guilty of it. Pulling it too early instead of going what was going to happen? You're going to get bruised. Yeah, well, he may come away with the scar too.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

You might have broke a bone. But did you. You did you find out?

[Blake Mycoski]

Totally.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And the go find there's. We can go higher and wider and deeper to find things out then I think we.

[Blake Mycoski]

We do.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Totally. And if it does get hot, we can handle breaking sweat.

[Blake Mycoski]

Back to Green Lights. Now one of the things that I love about that and I think it ties into what we were just saying is you talk about the difference between a resume and a eulogy. How has that affected how you live your life?

[Matthew McConaughey]

Well, I bring it up in a couple of poems in here about we can seem to be able to remember as far as we can project and the writing of Green Lights. I had to look over my shoulder into my past. Okay, back to. I'm probably down back to 8 years old. That was not a comfortable experience for me, especially for the first two weeks. I felt shame. I felt Guilt. I was embarrassed. Jeez. Oh, man.

[Blake Mycoski]

Did you ever feel like saying, fuck it, I don't want to do this?

[Matthew McConaughey]

No. I didn't give myself the option.

[Blake Mycoski]

Good.

[Matthew McConaughey]

I mean, I packed all my diaries away. Okay. Along with my steaks, water and tequila, and went to a place that. That had no electricity in the middle of the desert where I was locked in with nothing but me and who I've been in my past or my diaries. And I learned from previous trips that there's. There's an initiation period when we go away with ourselves.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yes.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Where the demons on our back, man, are. Are dancing and having a good time at our expense. Where the guilt can get really heavy. The shame can get heavy. And I know for me, I do not enjoy my own company for a little while when I go off these ships.

[Blake Mycoski]

Amen to that.

[Matthew McConaughey]

But I've learned that there seems to be. For me, it's around day 12.

[Blake Mycoski]

Day 12, really seem.

[Matthew McConaughey]

For whatever reasons around. It's happened on numerous trips. It was around day 12 where all of a sudden I have a purge or a wake up and I go, okay, dude, what are we going to forgive and what are we going to change? Meaning what are we. What parts are we going to forgive? What parts are we going to go? Buck stops here, man. No more of that bullshit. Yeah, cut it out. You repeat, offended son of a bitch. You know what I mean? That. That action keeps giving you the same damn result. The ROI sucks.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Cut it out.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Or what do we forgive? Dude, you're human. Amen. And so around there, the things that we're maybe embarrassed or ashamed or feel guilt about, we can look at and go. Instead of maybe crying about it or going pounding and breaking bleed, making our knuckles bleed over it, we can start all of a sudden, start to go, bam. There comes the breakthrough, at least for me, for sure. Now I start to laugh.

[Blake Mycoski]

You're holding on. You're not holding on so tight. So if I'm hearing you correctly, some of those first 10 days, it's all coming in.

[Matthew McConaughey]

It's internal.

[Blake Mycoski]

And what are you doing? Is there an actual practice? I mean, for someone who might be listening to this, thinking, like, I want to go away, I want to try this. Like this is. And some people can't be alone with themselves for an hour.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Look, if you can get to a place where you can have some physical movement.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

A trek. Nothing. Not sprints, but a destination. A hike.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yes. Okay. So move the body.

[Matthew McConaughey]

To move the body is helpful. If you cannot.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And you are like Where I was now, I could move around the desert, but I was basically kind of locked myself up in this little almost shed. You know, I had my helmet, my chin strap, my mouth guard, and I patted the walls and wore or a cup and my jock strap just so I was like, I don't need any sharp objects or I don't need to be using any. Any machine, heavy machinery right now. You know those mornings where he's like, dude, let's just try and keep from, you know, hitting something where we. Where we bleed today. You know what I mean?

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah, I know those moments.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And sometimes if you're in. That can happen when we're on our own and stuck in our own world where.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

We feel like we're going to implode and we feel like, paralyzed. Well, then strap the old helmet on.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Pad the walls and go, okay, all right, let's have it out.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And you can have, you know, so it's. Put yourself in a location where you can have it out with yourself.

[Blake Mycoski]

I like that.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And get rid of the. Get rid of the barbed wire and put some padded walls up for yourself. Right. Drink out of plastic cup.

[Blake Mycoski]

I like that.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Or get. Or. And get to a place where you go, I have a destination today. I have a place I need to get to to find my bed.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

To get water.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

I know simple things. The movement.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. Like the. The old saying of chop wood, you know, Carry water.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yes.

[Blake Mycoski]

Like sometimes that just simple repetition of accomplishing a simple task can get the momentum that you need to get clear in the head.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And that's flowing.

[Blake Mycoski]

And then that's when you really get those insights, downloads and helps you reading this great book into the world.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And that is part of, I think, how we rehabilitate when we just start dealing with the chop wood, carry water. Deal with what's right in front of you for long enough, one in a row, enough times, and we start to get out of the cave.

[Blake Mycoski]

I love you said one in a row. I don't know which book that is in because I've read both of them so many times now. But I. I love when you talk about one in a row is momentum. And one of my favorite parts about Green Lights is you'll be telling a story and then all of a sudden you go note to self. And it's just like. It's like I'm like on the treadmill and I'm like, okay. And it's always like this really practical piece of advice. And one of my favorite notes to Self is That, you know, one in a row. And so just that that's the key is, is like have that, that one in a row. Create some momentum, chop wood, carry water. Know that if you are going to go alone, it's going to be hard for, you know, a period. That's part of the purging.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Part of that I think is understanding going in. Yeah, it's good. I'm about to go through hell for a little while.

[Blake Mycoski]

It very reminds me experience I had in my healing journey. I had this great psychiatrist and we do a lot of work together. Realized that I had been struggling with this feeling of not feeling enough. And he told me, he said, we have to reprogram your subconscious. And this is not going to be easy. It's going to take time and it's going to take discipline and it's not going to feel better quick. And so what we did, very simple. For 40 days, I committed. Sounds very simple and kind of silly, but I woke up for 20 minutes every morning. I closed my eyes and I said, I'm enough. I've always been enough. I'm enough. I've always been enough.

[Matthew McConaughey]

A mantra.

[Blake Mycoski]

A mantra. 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes evening. I'd never done anything like this. It felt silly. It felt stupid. All the demons we're coming here saying, don't listen to the psychiatrist. You need to do this. You need to go to this retreat. And the first couple weeks it sucked. Day 28, I started feeling better. By day 40, I really started to believe it. So I totally know what you're saying. When this advice is really practical. This is definitely a note to self is, you know, prolong the potential, expect the discomfort to be longer. And then when it's not, it'll. You'll get through it.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah, well, you. When you do, you're like, oh, I had more in the tank.

[Blake Mycoski]

Exactly, exactly. Like I could have done instead of 40 days, I could have done 80 days.

[Matthew McConaughey]

But once you got past day 28.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah, exactly. But up to day 28, oh, man,

[Matthew McConaughey]

what am I doing saying this Damn thing again? 20 minutes yet? No, it's only 17.

[Blake Mycoski]

I mean, it's like. Yeah, okay. Another note to self that I just love is. And it has a great story attached to it is just because you can does not mean you should. Yes, this story hit me. The first time I read your book was like four or five years ago. I never forget. I was in Mexico listening to it running on the beach. And this really hit me hard. And I'll explain why, but please tell this story.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Okay. So good. Yeah. So this comes from a story. It was 1995. Ish. I think I'd gotten my first sort of real acting role after Days of Confused. It was on film called Boys on the side. And we were shooting in Tucson, Arizona. I got, like, them, the fourth lead. Drew Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, Mary Louise Parker. Herbert Ross is directing. They got. I got. They ridden me a house. I got a house on the edge of the Saguaro National Forest, man. I got. I got. Just got a dog. Got this one bedroom. Cool. It's the guest house. Off. My whole backyard was the desert. It was. So you're 11. Oh, it was good. And that little house came with a housekeeper, and she would just have a little loft bedroom. Anyway, she would make my bed and she'd come and clean up maybe some snacks and the thing. A Tupperware from my lunch on the floors. Wash, clean the dishes. And also one thing she did is she would press my jeans and starch them with a freaking line down them.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah, I know that.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Folded up that crispy love. Anyway, I had this. My friend, the late Beth Alexander, come over. She was Herbert Ross's assistant at the time, and we were becoming friendly. And we're hanging out on Friday night. I'm telling her, dude, this is so great. And this place comes with this mate. And she does this and this, this. And guess what? She also. She also presses my jeans, man. And. And I'm like. And she goes, well, that's great if you like your jeans pressed. And I was like, I don't like that line down my jeans, man. But I was so happy to have it because I never. It was never an option before in my life.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And I was like, I don't like that line. Yeah, what about. And we started laughing. Yeah. And I was just. That, that, that. That, you know, when you can ask if you want to before you do is a really great question. Because when. A lot of times when we get an option to have something new or more, we're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Especially when it comes to more, I think, which we forget that. Yeah, not enough of a good thing sucks, but a close second is too much of a good thing.

[Blake Mycoski]

Exactly.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Right. But we're like, yes.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Like, because we've never had it before.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Because. Well, why wouldn't I. Wouldn't I be. Wouldn't it be insensitive of me to say no? Totally.

[Blake Mycoski]

Like, this is. Especially if that's been. If you've been told that is what you should want by society. Like, I mean, I can remember this when I sold Tom's shoes, all of a sudden I had all this money and I was like, well, I got all this money. I'm gonna build this crazy house in Jackson Hole. I'm gonna have an indoor golf simulator, a rock climbing gym in my garage, all this stuff. Soon as I moved into the house, I looked around and I was like, I don't wanna take care of all this shit. I don't wanna have a staff person running around fixing this, fixing that. It was like. It was. It was crazy. And so I had a lot of fun building it because I thought I wanted it, because I thought I wanted my jeans pressed for a second. And instead, you know, six months into living in the house, I said, we're going to Costa Rica. Simplifying life.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah.

[Blake Mycoski]

And you've done that a lot. You've done some. That's another thing. I really appreciate that. It seems like in times in your life where things have gotten a little wobbly, a little, you know, maybe too much is going on, you've simplified, you've made some really. You've done a good life edit.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah, I think I've done a decent job of that. I found to go away to places where for me as a celebrity, to go to places where no one knew my name was something I needed. I remember the first trip to. To Peru is right after I got famous, after A Time to Kill. And I was questioning then you were super famous.

[Blake Mycoski]

Like, I mean, we were looking like that weekend. It was bananas. Like, your whole life is done.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah. Different, different. No strangers do I meet anymore. The world is a mirror. You are now everybody. And I'm going. I only said that four people in my life, man, this place is, you know. Yeah. So I needed to get my feet on the ground, but at the same time, I needed to enjoy. All of a sudden, the world was yes to me.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. So you go to Peru.

[Matthew McConaughey]

So I click out, boom, go to Peru. And partially what I needed was this. I needed to find it to check the validation. And I knew I had it. I just had to. I just had to go prove it again. But I did question of, like, okay, people, now that I just got famous, I've got all this adulation for this and that and the other. Okay. And I'm trying to decipher which part's real and which part's.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

So I said, I'm gonna go. One thing I need to find out is I'll be. I'll be gone for 22 days. Which for whatever reason, 22 days seems to be about the time I go on these trips.

[Blake Mycoski]

Okay.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Full time.

[Blake Mycoski]

So the first 12 days are a little.

[Matthew McConaughey]

First 12 days. Wonky, bro. And then LA. The last 10 days were great. And, and, and I was. I always like to say this. I talk about green lights. I was now at the place long enough to go. I could live this. This could be my existence.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. It sounds like my.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Now it's okay. Now it's okay to return.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. The pain of ayahuasca is so bad in the beginning and in the end is just bliss. Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And as soon as you go, I could do this again.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Then you're like, well, I can return home.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah. Great.

[Matthew McConaughey]

So one thing I needed was can I meet. And it happened. The people I met on hello. In Peru who only knew me as Mato.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yes.

[Matthew McConaughey]

No. Of a movie I had done or anything.

[Blake Mycoski]

Amazing. That's it. How great did that feel? I must have felt so good.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Well, it was. It was great. Just the. Because after, when you get famous, what happens is you, you, you. There's a few sort of just salutations that are skipped.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Obviously. What's your name? What do you do?

[Blake Mycoski]

Everything in people, they already know the name. They know Ms. Huds name.

[Matthew McConaughey]

They're already there. You know, I'm sorry about your. Sorry about Ms. Huds cancer. I want to add, you know, I had a dog. Two, how did you have. No, how did your name. How'd you know? Three, how did you know she was sick? You said that on hello. Hi, my name is Matthew. What's your name? You went five deep on Howdy. Easy. Right. So I needed to do. What did happen was meet people that knew me as Matteo.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yeah, that was it. Yeah.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And at the end of 22 days, the tears in their eyes and the tears in my eyes and the hugs we had on the sadness and happiness of saying goodbye were all based off of the man they met named Matteo.

[Blake Mycoski]

Yes.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Who had nothing to do with the celebrity and the experience in times that we had together for 22 days. That one. That's right. I got it. I still got it. I got it. It's not all of. It's not only this thing. I. So it gave me a sort of self under identity again. It reaffirmed my own identity that. Oh, I got it.

[Blake Mycoski]

To listen to the full episode with Matthew, just search for no magic pill wherever you get your podcast or click the link in the show notes and make sure to follow so you don't miss a single episode.