How Matthew McConaughey Unwinds: Tequila and a Fellow Oscar Winner’s New Album (Exclusive)

You know that phrase, "booked and busy?" Matthew McConaughey takes the concept to another level. The Oscar-winning actor — who just released another collection of life lessons in the form of a bestselling children's book — caught up with The Messenger after a nine-day book tour to discuss the balancing act of raising three kids and working. Read on for more of McConaughey's views in The Messenger's new interview series, My Ideal Weekend, where we catch up with beloved stars about the thoughts, memories, interests and activities that help fuel (and refuel) their lives and work.

His perfect weekend morning:

I love a good sleep-in on a Saturday and Sunday. But not too late on a Saturday. That pushes into Sunday, that makes Monday mornings hard. So let me sleep 'til 9:30am if I can on Saturday, because we had fun last night. We stayed up a little later, we had another sip. We maybe danced a little bit, the music was going and we didn't want to interrupt the fun we were having, so let's sleep in 'til 9:30am here.

We're going to get up slow, though. No rush, it's the weekend, gang. No one's got to be at school at 8:00am. "Come in here, what's everyone want for breakfast? Let's take our time here, and everyone come out in your pajamas and let's make a big breakfast." That's the best morning right there so far. That'll get us to about 11:00am.

His preference on indoors or outdoors:

Outdoors, because I think it's healthier for me. I do need to go indoors to get my own solitude sometimes. Sometimes I like a good wall in front of me so my mind can sort of focus on one thing. When I'm outdoors, which I love to be outdoors, I get big ideas.

How he likes to unwind:

I like to have a sip of tequila. I do like to have a sip of that at the end of the day. And then when I get in bed I like to take a minute to go over... notate through my day. So I kind of go back to breakfast and I go, "What did I get done today? How did it go?" Kind of grade myself how each kind of appointment or meeting or interaction went, and then have a little look at what I've got lined up for the next day.

And I noticed that I've kind of been just conscious of what's coming up on my schedule. When I first look at it I'm like, "Oh jeez, that looks busy." This book [tour,] for instance. Do I do it just because? I looked at that eight days, I was like, "Man, this is chock block, back-to-back. When am I going to get a breath?" But I kept looking at it and I started to go, "Here's how you can look at it McConaughey: From day one, when you leave, when you go to the first bookstore in Austin until day nine when you leave L.A., that's one scene. The cameras on, you're in one take. Do not even step out. You are on. It's one take, you are on for publicizing, selling your book." And all of a sudden, when I got that in my mind, the days became easier. Just kind of a knock one down, knock two down, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve meetings that day, move on to the next one. And I was like, "Nope, we're not done until we leave L.A."

The last dream he remembers having:

Oh, it was last night. It was about my University of Texas football team.

They're off to a good start, but it was around this question of everyone going, "Are you back? Are you back? Are you back?" And in the dream, it was in the past for Texas that said, "Oh we're back."

And in the dream, all of a sudden, everyone at Texas got very quiet and just were straight facing the world. And the world looked up and then Texas was playing great and their record was undefeated. But we weren't the ones saying, "We're back." The world was saying, "You're back. You're back." And we just looked them in the eye and said, "Yes, we are. We agree with you." But we weren't selling, we weren't advertising, we weren't boasting, we weren't saying that. It was such a confidence that it didn't need to be said. We were the last ones to say it. The world said it, and we agreed.

The soundtrack to his weekend:

Through the weekend I've been listening to Post Malone, and then my friend Jared Leto [who starred alongside him in Dallas Buyers Club, which garnered them both Oscars, McConaughey won Best Actor and Leto won Best Supporting Actor] just sent me the new... I just got his, Thirty Seconds to Mars' new album, which I'm quite enjoying quite a few songs on there. So right now that's what those are. That's on my spin.