Famous actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves recently discussed the change of pace in their life since moving to Austin, Texas from California roughly a decade ago. In an interview with Southern Living magazine, the two explained the “lack of drama” in their lives since relocating to the Lone Star state.
The Dazed and Confused star noted the slower pace of life in Texas that felt more appropriately aligned with the internal “body clock.” He also commented how the state offers many of the pleasantries commonly associated with southern hospitality.
“Time slowed down,” McConaughey said. “The clock was right, the body clock. And part of that is ritual; part of that is just the distance between places and the way people move. But it’s also the hospitality, the courtesy, the common sense, the lack of drama.”
Alves weighed in on the move from the Golden State, claiming that “the gravity is right.” The native Brazilian discussed how she and her family had a very pleasant life in California, where she and McConaughey were raising their young family.
“We were living a happy life in Malibu,” she said. “We had a beautiful house that we’d built together and put a lot of love and care into. We were raising our kids there. I was growing everything in the yard. I had bees making honey.”
However, Alves detailed an instance where the family was forced to fly back to Austin to attend a family emergency with McConaughey’s mother, Kay. She recalled looking at Matthew from the passenger seat in their car, noticing that he had a “peaceful” aura that made it seem as if he was at home. She then asked her husband, “You want to move here, don’t you?”
After a short conversation in the car, the rest was history and the family decided to pack up and move halfway across the country. Despite various challenges the transition posed for Alves, she noted the southern lifestyle was not that different from where she grew up in Brazil. “We grew up saying ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘No, sir’ or – as I should say – ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Yes, sir,’” she said. “It takes me right back to how I was raised.”
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“In Texas, we were going to the church that we like to attend every Sunday. Sports became a stronger tradition for the kids,” she added, explaining some of the lifestyle changes the family picked up when planting roots in Texas.
McConaughey weighed in on the newfound presence of rituals within the family. “Ritual came back, whether that was Sunday church, sports, dinner together as a family every night, or staying up after that telling stories in the kitchen, sitting at the island pouring drinks and nibbling while retelling them all in different ways than we told them before,” he said.