Weird Things About Matthew McConaughey's Marriage That Everyone Ignores

Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves married in 2012 after a chance meeting at an L.A. club. This was the start of a whirlwind romance that could've inspired one of the old rom-coms McConaughey used to star in. The couple has three children who look just like them, and their marriage appears to be going well. "Since that evening, I have not wanted to spend time with any other woman, definitely have not wanted to sleep with anyone else. I've not wanted to have children with anyone else other than her," he told People in a 2020 interview. "We have a love that we never question."

Alves is in the public eye less often than her husband and usually keeps details about her marriage private. Nonetheless, the former model opened up to She Knows in 2014, revealing that she loves her husband's sense of humor and honesty. Their seemingly sweet relationship appears to be void of drama, but some strange details about their courtship and marriage have definitely flown under the radar.

Matthew McConaughey finding love in Los Angeles after a meet-cute with Camila Alves over margaritas is an entertaining story. However, there's one very odd detail that McConaughey has included several times in his recollections over the years, and it isn't exactly doing him any favors. In both his aforementioned People interview and a 2017 interview on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show, the actor specifically recalled asking, "What is that?" when he first laid eyes on his future wife. That's as opposed to "Who is that?," which is the normal question to ask when someone unexpectedly catches your attention.

McConaughey told People that an "aqua-green figure went floating across the frame" and caught his eye. After spending some time trying to get her attention from across the room, he decided that she was special enough to approach and invite to his table for a margarita. It's admirable that McConaughey decided to be a gentleman as opposed to catcalling across a club. However, it's alarming that he thought of her as an object before he saw her as a woman, which is nothing to boast about.

Matthew McConaughey told Howard Stern in 2017 that he invited Camila Alves back to his house with friends, hoping to turn their encounter at a Los Angeles club into a more official first date. She went solo, and he was enjoying himself so much that when she wanted to call a cab home, he convinced her to stay the night in his guest room. Despite McConaughey making a couple of attempts to get closer to Alves that night, he recalled that she didn't even kiss him. But when he woke up the next morning, she was enjoying breakfast with his housekeeper and his friends as if she belonged there. Clearly, she did. 

There's nothing wrong with extending a good time or hooking up on a first date if both people are comfortable with what's happening. Plus, McConaughey presumably respected Alves' boundaries, though it is a little strange that he tested them more than once. Also, there's no denying that it's weird to wake up in an actor's guest room hours after meeting him and go downstairs to prepare breakfast with his friends and housekeeper.

On Southern Living's "Biscuits & Jam" podcast in 2023, Camila Alves — who settled in Texas to raise her family with Matthew McConaughey — recalled her difficult relationship with her mother-in-law, Mary Kathlene "Kay" McConaughey, leading to a fateful showdown in Istanbul. Alves told host Sid Evans that Kay used to test her patience early in her relationship with Matthew, calling Alves by his ex-girlfriends' names or speaking broken Spanish in a way that felt rude (which they were, if purposeful). 

Still, Alves decided to invite Kay on a trip to Istanbul with her to enjoy the perks of a business trip, but her behavior continued. On the third day of the trip, Alves recalled something happening that made her mother-in-law break down in tears, which made Alves realize Kay was faking her tough exterior. "So, I just started bringing my spicy Brazilian, Latin side [out] and I let her have it. So, I went back at her," Alves said on the podcast. "And then at the end, she just looked at me and she was like, 'Okay, now you're in.' All she wanted was for me to fight back. And then from that night on, we've had the most amazing relationship," the mom of three said.

It might not be too odd for a mom to test a potential future daughter-in-law, but Kay certainly chose some strange methods to do so. Plus, there are probably only an elite few who can say it took a family trip to Istanbul to reach some kind of reconciliation.

People may not know that Matthew McConaughey is a published author. While promoting his book "Poems & Prayers" on "The View" in 2025, the actor revealed that he and Camila Alves chose a very unique sleeping arrangement on purpose. He gives relationship advice in the book via poems, with one advising couples to "get rid of that king-size mattress and sleep in a queen-size bed." 

He explained to the hosts that when he and Alves were first preparing to have kids, they went to a friend's house and saw that the family slept on two king-sized mattresses put together for ample space while co-sleeping. They wanted to open up their bed to their children, too, so they followed the example.

They got so used to the arrangement that, when the McConaughey kids grew up to have their own lavish lifestyles and separate bedrooms, the couple kept sleeping on the combined king-sized mattresses. But the ocean of space between them was "not productive for snuggling," as McConaughey told "The View." So, the couple downsized from a double king to a queen-sized mattress. It's a romantic choice, but they definitely skipped a size on the way down.