A few years ago, actor and recognized University of Texas ambassador Matthew McConaughey began co-teaching a communications course at the Austin campus. The Serenity and Interstellar star has been doing this ever since, but on Wednesday, the school’s Moody College of Communication announced that McConaughey would be getting an upgrade.
According to Austin 360, beginning this fall semester, the Hollywood veteran will begin working as a “professor of practice,” which makes him an official member of the Department of Radio-Television-Film’s faculty. McConaughey released an official statement regarding the appointment via the university’s official website:
“It’s the class I wish I would have had when I was in film school. Working in the classroom with these students gives me a chance to prepare them,” McConaughey said. “Making movies, turning words on paper into film, is both a science and art — no matter the time or generation. The elements of truth and genuine joy for the process are timeless. That will always be our classroom focus.”
A ’93 graduate of the university’s film school, McConaughey has been co-teaching the “Script to Screen” course since 2015 with faculty member and director Scott Rice. In previous semesters, the actor’s own films — including Free State of Jones, White Boy Rick, and The Beach Bum — have been discussed at length by himself and the filmmakers he made them with. For the upcoming fall semester, McConaughey will be leading lectures on The Gentleman and Mud while director Jeff Nichols is expected to visit at some point.
(Via Austin 360)
