Matthew McConaughey surprises Good Morning Britain viewers with ‘enthralling’ interview

Actor charmed Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid with ‘measured’ appearance

Matthew McConaughey surprised viewers with his appearance on Good Morning Britain.

The Oscar-winning actor of films including Dallas Buyers Club, Interstellar and The Wolf of Wall Street was interviewed by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Tuesday (15 December) from his home in Texas.

While appearing on the ITV breakfast show, McConaughey clarified his recent criticism of “illiberal” Hollywood stars for “patronising” those with opposing political beliefs.

He had made the comments while appearing on Russell Brand’s Under the Skin podcast.

"You need liberals – what I don’t think we need is the illiberals, and what I don’t think that some liberals see is that they’re often being cannibalised by the illiberals,’ McConaughey, 51, said.

“The extreme left and the extreme right completely illegitimise the other side,” he continued: “Or they exaggerate that side’s stance into an irrational state and that’s not fair when either side does that."

Addressing cancel culture, he added: “Where the waterline’s gonna land on this freedom of speech and what we allow and what we don’t on this cancel culture… is a very interesting place in society trying to figure out because we haven’t found the right spot.”

He said he believes “there is no room for any consensus".

“You’ve got to have confrontation to have unity – I think we can all agree on that,” he added. “That’s when the democracy works really well.”

Both Morgan and Reid were complimentary of their guest, with the former saying he wanted to speak to him “all day”.

McConaughey has been praised for the interview, which viewers have hailed as “calm”, “measured” and “enthralling”.

Matthew McConaughey clarified recent remarks about Hollywood ‘illberals’ on ‘GMB’ (GMB)

“It was the most uplifting interview I've seen all year,” one viewer wrote, with another adding: “Matthew McConaughey was exactly what I needed to hear this morning.”

“What a refreshing positive discussion with Matthew McConaughey,” another wrote.

The actor was promoting his new memoir, titled Greenlights.