Why Matthew McConaughy spent two days in the desert reading his worst reviews

Matthew McConaughey once "spent two days" in the desert reading bad reviews about himself.

The 56-year-old actor has admitted he gained a better understanding of how much stock he should place in reviews of his work after bringing together 20 years of negative press for a solo trip.

Appearing on the Build or Break podcast, he said: "[I] went away to the desert for a week and I took them all in this big thick book. I read every one. All the negative reviews — I’m sorry, not all the positive reviews, the negative ones.

“And I sat, and it’s all I [did], I spent two days with them. It was hard. Some of the reviews, what I learned, is that from the very first sentence, ‘Oh, this person has it out for me.’

"It didn’t matter whether they saw the movie or not. They just don’t like me. They were going to write a negative review.”

There were some reviews where Matthew appreciated that the critic had something to say, and it wasn't coming from a deliberate place.

He explained: "Other reviews I saw, I was like, ‘This person’s got a point. They’re actually a fan of mine, and they didn’t get from my performance what I was actually hoping they would have got. Where did I fail in the choice?’

"Because this is constructive criticism. This person is a good critic. They were looking at the work and objectively criticising it.

"Applauding some things, but also applauded some things that shined a light on where I came up short. Okay. What can I learn from that?”

The Lincoln Lawyer actor noted that sometimes critics will "write bad about you and wish the worst no matter what", which comes down to them disliking you "from afar".

But, he added: "Some are really a good critic who will write constructively about what you did wrong, and you can learn from it.”

Matthew previously recalled his decision to transition from rom com roles to dramas after a break from acting.

By reading all the negative reviews, he was able to figure out "what was fake and what was real", which can blend together in Hollywood.

he explained: “Before I became a ‘movie star’ or ‘celebrity,’ everything that I had done in life or was measured upon or got a hug for or was told ‘I love you’ for or was told ‘Hey, you did that wrong,’ was measured off of how I did the job.