Matthew McConaughey has not ruled out a run for public office, but the Academy Award-winning actor says that any political ambitions will have to wait until his family responsibilities allow.
During a cover shoot with PEOPLE, McConaughey, 55, discussed the possibility of running for governor in his home state of Texas. “I don’t know,” he said when asked about a political future. “Like I said, it’s something I started looking into probably six years ago and something I’ve continued to study—what that arena is, what it would mean, how could I be useful in it, would I be useful in it?”
Politics, McConaughey noted, is “not necessarily my language,” but he suggested that if he were ever to enter public service, it would be because he felt compelled to. “That would happen if and when it was something that I couldn’t not do. It would happen when I would look up and see that I’m pulled into it in a way that, ‘Oh, I have to.’”
The actor briefly considered a gubernatorial run in Texas in 2021 but ultimately decided against entering the 2022 election cycle. With the 2026 race just over a year away, McConaughey emphasized that his family comes first. “For now, I’m very secure with—the original thing I knew I always wanted to be was a dad,” he said, referring to his three children with wife Camila Alves McConaughey: Levi, 17; Vida, 15; and Livingston, 12.
McConaughey explained that he wants to focus on raising his children before making any political or professional decisions that could have lasting consequences. “Let me do what I can with Camila to get these three kids out of the house as healthy individuals, as much as I can make that possible,” he said. “And then opportunities or choices I can make—I’ll be much more free to make choices that won’t have the same consequences they may have now. Because if I did that now, I wouldn’t be able to be the father and spend the time with the family the way that I have so far, and it’s something I’m not ready to sacrifice.”
The actor’s remarks came during a family-themed PEOPLE cover, which also featured McConaughey’s mother, Kay, 93, and eldest son Levi. The feature coincides with the release of The Lost Bus, McConaughey’s new survival thriller on Apple TV+, set to stream on Oct. 3. The film dramatizes the deadly 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, which burned more than 150,000 acres and killed 85 people. McConaughey stars as a wayward bus driver who rescues 22 schoolchildren, while Levi makes his onscreen debut as the actor’s son, and Kay returns to film for the first time since a 2011 cameo in Bernie.
Reflecting on guiding his son through the industry, McConaughey said, “I’ve tried to give him some tips that I’ve learned along the way, tried to give him some of those tips earlier than I understood them. It’s hard to keep your feet on the ground, to sift out the real stuff from the BS. But over time, you’ve got to get that sixth sense. It’s important that he has his own ownership of who he is and becomes. And [acting] will be a part of that if he continues to do it, part of finding his identity, but it can’t be his full identity.”
McConaughey’s comments underline the delicate balance he maintains between public ambition, personal fulfillment, and family priorities. While the door remains open to a political future, it is clear that his immediate focus remains on fatherhood and guiding his children through life and, in Levi’s case, into the world of acting.
