Matthew McConaughey’s Romantic History: From Dating Sandra Bullock To Camila Alves Marriage
Matthew McConaughey has been happily coupled up with now-wife Camila Alves for 14 years. But before that, he dated some very famous starlets.
Matthew McConaughey has been happily committed for former model Camila Alves, 38, ever since their first date in 2006. Though they didn’t tie the knot until 2014, he’s been off the dating scene for over a decade and a half. But prior to that he had romanced some of his gorgeous co-stars while rising through the ranks as a Hollywood leading man, starting out with his first big role in 1996’s legal thriller A Time to Kill.
Since then, Matthew has gone on to become one of the biggest stars in Tinseltown. From romantic comedies in the early aughts opposite the likes of Jennifer Lopez, 51, (The Wedding Planner) and Kate Hudson, 41, (How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days), to winning a Best Lead Actor Oscar in 2014 for his role of dying AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club, Matthew can do it all onscreen. Though he told Howard Stern on Oct. 21, 2020, “I’ve always tried to keep it professional and the people I’ve worked with, I must say, did as well,” while on movie sets, he did end up with a few co-stars. We’ve got his romantic history of the women who dated Matthew.
Ashley Judd
Ashely Judd was the first big name Matthew was linked to as an up and coming actor. She played his wife Carla in the 1996 movie A Time to Kill, opposite Matthew’s Jake Tyler Brigance. It was his big break and first lead in a Hollywood film, while Ashley, 52, was soon to become a leading lady herself in 1997’s thriller Kiss The Girls.
Their brief romance was short-lived though, as Matthew ended up dating a different co-star from the same film. It was no big loss to Ashley, who went on to date singer Michael Bolton from 1996-1997. She then began a romance with pro race car driver Dario Franchitti, who she was married to from 2001 – 2013.
Sandra Bullock
While Matthew says today that he would never date a co-star, that wasn’t the case when he was just starting out. He fell for actress Sandra Bullock while shooting their 1996 movie A Time to Kill, after his short liaison with Ashley. Sandra had just broke big herself, starring in 1994’s thriller Speed and the 1995 rom-com While You Were Sleeping. The pair dated for two years before amicably parting ways.
In 2003, Sandra, now 56, told Cosmopolitan that they remained friends after their split, “It’s the work we both put in. There’s a great amount of respect and love. I feel very cared for by Matthew. No matter where he is in his life or where I am in mine, he could be married, I know we would stay close.” The two are literally close to this day, as they both have homes in Austin, TX. It is where Matthew is raising his family with Camila, while Sandra fell in love with the city when filming 1998’s Hope Floats. She’s been dating photographer Bryan Randall since 2015.
Penelope Cruz
Matthew found love on another movie set while filming 2005’s action adventure Sahara. Penélope Cruz, now 46, became his leading lady in real life. How could he not fall for the Spanish beauty while on location in gorgeous Morocco? After filming wrapped, the two took a road trip to Mexico in Matthew’s camper, proving they could make it even in small quarters as a couple.
‘There’s a bit of a language barrier, but it’s like poetry when it happens. What I really love about her is that she sees everything for the first time, every time. And she’s one of the best listeners I’ve ever met,” he said of the actress in Neil Daniels‘ 2014 book, Matthew McConaughey: The Biography. In 2006 the pair reportedly broke up due to “busy schedules,” but Matthew went on to tell Neil that he first laid eyes on Camila in a West Hollywood bar that same year and couldn’t think of being with anyone else after that. Penelope later married fellow Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem in 2010.
Camila Alves
Matthew described to Neil the experience he had seeing Camila for the first time in a West Hollywood bar. “My eye went up and I remember what came out of my mouth. I didn’t say ‘Who is that?’ I went, ‘What is that?’ As l was trying to get her attention across the room, I went in my head, ‘This is not the kind of woman you call over across the room, McConaughey. Get your ass out of your chair and go get her.’ Which I did.” They went on their first date three nights later and he’s never been on a date with anyone else since then.
Two years after meeting in 2006, Matthew and Camila welcomed their first child, son Levi, now 12. He was joined two years later by little sister Vida, 10, and the couple added one more child, son Livingston, 7. Matthew and Camila eventually tied the knot on June 9, 2012, and have remained blissfully in love ever since meeting in 2006.