Actor Matthew McConaughey says he is considering a return to romantic comedies despite his recent success in more serious roles.

The Oscar-winner appeared in a string of “rom-coms” in the previous decade including The Wedding Planner and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, that received mixed reviews.

But he won critical acclaim for his performance in the drama Dallas Buyers Club, for which he won the Academy Award for best actor in 2014, and his starring role in Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster Interstellar.

Matthew McConaughey (D. Long/Zuma Press)
Matthew McConaughey (D. Long/Zuma Press)

Matthew, who plays American Civil War fighter Newton Knight in the new film Free State Of Jones, described his earlier romantic comedy roles as “Saturday characters”.

He told the Press Association.”Obviously Free State Of Jones isn’t a Saturday character. It’s a Monday morning, go to work character.

“But I’m open to that in the future. I’m looking for some comedy right now.”

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, who co-starred in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days in 2003
Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, who co-starred in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days in 2003 (Diane Bondareff/AP)

Matthew, 46, said he was initially reluctant to star in a civil war film but the movie’s theme of racial inequality remained relevant today.

He said: “Other films that have been set in the Civil War I’ve seen, I didn’t love them, they didn’t stick with me. I didn’t find current relevance in them.

“This one came along and I told the director, ‘It’s not a time in American history I’m really turned on by, but let me have a look’.

“I read it and I was completely entertained by the script and I was like, ‘Boy, this lives as fiction but it’s non-fiction. It’s true’. That was the cherry on top.”

He added: “There are a lot of issues in this story that are front and centre today. No doubt.”

Free State Of Jones is released in UK cinemas on Friday.