It’s hard to believe that the romantic comedy classic How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days is turning 20 in 2023. The film still works well today due to the magnetic chemistry between leading stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. However, what's surprising about this movie is while viewers enjoyed his and Hudson’s onscreen love connection, they’ve never heard how the frequent onscreen duo was brought together until now. The Oscar winner revealed how he was convinced to do the rom-com classic in the most McConaughey story ever.
Following her Oscar nomination for Almost Famous, Hudson was Paramount Picture’s top choice for Andie Anderson after Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow had to drop out of the movie. Once Hudson was cast, it was all about getting the right leading man. McConaughey’s name came up in a meeting, which the Glass Onion star “thought was a great idea.” Of course, producer Lynda Obst called the Sing star’s manager once everyone agreed he was the perfect Benjamin Barry. The Oscar winner recalled to Vanity Fair getting the offer and contemplating it in the most Matthew McConaughey way ever.
I remember considering whether I was going to do it or not one night while on a walk down Sunset Boulevard. Suddenly, this guy comes up out of nowhere to me — he was a fortune teller guru [and] goes, ‘Can I tell you your fortune real quick?’
Of course, a fortune teller was involved in one of the biggest decisions of McConaughey’s career. It recalled the days when he got arrested for playing bongos naked or living out of his camper and jogging on the beach. The run-in made sense. In true Matthew McConaughey style, the Dazed and Confused breakout star obliged the offer. The fortune teller explained to him why he needed to join the romantic comedy.
I was like, ‘Yeah, man. Sure.’ He immediately goes, ‘There’s a movie you’re considering right now. It’s a romantic comedy. You have to do this or it will be one of the biggest regrets of your life. It is going to be a blast, it is going to be an incredible experience and it is going to make a bunch of money.’
The fortune teller appeared to hit the nail on the head. However, their words seemed too good to be true for McConaughey. He admitted to being skeptical about the teller’s vision as he thought the person was sent by the studio to convince him to take the role. The True Detective star straddled the line between laughable and serious when taking their words into account.
I laughed at the thought, but I also remember taking a more serious consideration. I think I even accepted the offer the next day.
Thankfully, Matthew McConaughey accepted the role. The team-up of McConaughey and Hudson paid off as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days became a box office hit making over $117 million worldwide despite receiving mixed reviews. The movie became a cult classic with many viewers re-evaluating it as a subversion of certain rom-com tropes, which Kate Hudson agreed with. The cult classic is also still what makes him the most money to this day. The film also birthed the fruitful onscreen pairing of McConaughey and Kate Hudson as they re-teamed for the 2008 action-adventure film Fool’s Gold.
If you want to revisit all of Benjamin Barry and Andie Anderson’s hilarious antics, go stream How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days through a Paramount+ subscription. Once you finish the rom-com classic, check out our 2023 movie schedule to see what movies from Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson are arriving this year.
