McConaughey promotes doing right thing in 'Surfer, Dude'

by Britni Palomino, photo editor

 

Celebrities have a huge influence on the way our nation perceives things.

With so many things going on in the world, many stars are doing their part to “go green” and bring awareness to current events in as many ways as they can, including comedy.

In his latest movie, “Surfer, Dude,” award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey plays the role of Steve Addington, a soul surfer who returns to his hometown of Malibu for the summer, only to find no waves.

“I think the message is on purpose; It’s simple and accessible,” says McConaughey.

The film, directed by first-time feature film director Robb Bindler, follows McConaughey as a very popular surfer who has to decide whether to remain true to his roots or sign on with a corporate guy looking to use him for a cyber surf video game and as a participant on a surf-themed reality TV show.

“Surfer, Dude” is a Just Keep Livin production, which is owned by McConaughey. The film was first premiered in Austin and has opened on 75 screens and across many college campuses.

“ We are trying to get it in front of college students, and, of course, I had to premiere it where I started out,” says McConaughey, a Texas native who attended University of Texas at Austin.

“Surfer, Dude” is the story of a well-known surfer, Steve Addington, an organic lead character who leads the most simple life you could imagine. His life suddenly gets complicated when the one thing he loves gets taken away.

“Steve is a very simple guy who is very connected with nature,” McConaughey says.  

With actors such as Woody Harrleson, Willie Nelson, Alexie Gilmore and K.D. Aubert providing the supporting cast, the film portrays a gang of friends who live a simple, cool life, and whose main concerns are the waves in the ocean.            

“If we succeed at portraying their lives as simple, then we did our jobs,” says McConaughey. “ It’s just an absurd and funny movie with a stoner’s mentality.”

Despite a new sponsorship that demands him to expand into virtual reality video games, Addington is unwilling to participate in digital reality. He then returns to Malibu for the summer to find the ocean corrupted. After having his accounts frozen, he must cope with the insanity that comes with not surfing or give in to the new digital reality games.

In a recent interview with the Plainsman Press, McConaughey says he had originally chosen to just produce the film and not act in it.           

The film’s script was first auctioned to producers in 1998, but no one wanted to finance it. Funding for the movie came from outside sources for $6 million. The shooting schedule was only 28 days, but production took two years. With a limited budget, the film was only advertised online.

“There was something production-wise to do every day,” says McConaughey. “ I wanted to have my proverbial hand in the clay.”

He began preparing for the role of Addington by going out, getting wet and surfing.

“I never surfed,” McConaughey says. “I didn’t know about surfing. I lived in Los Angeles and still didn’t know about it, and it was months before I got a wave. “ It’s such an analog thing to do. All you need is a board and water. It’s as close to nature as you can get.”

McConaughey, whose first acting job was in the movie “Dazed and Confused,” said he would definitely like to produce more movies and act, but not for a while. He says that he is proud of how the movie turned out.

“The overall theme of the movie is that if you do the right thing, then mother nature will pay you back,” McConaughey adds. “It’s not like any of the surf movies you’ve seen before.”