Matthew McConaughey has proved he's the perfect family man and lives a perfectly normal life despite being an A-List celebrity. He's got the gorgeous mansion and other things, but most of all he has a gorgeous family and his stunning wife, Camila Alves, who he's been faithfully married to since 2012.
What else does he need?
Before getting the dream lifestyle he has today, he was living in a pretty nice luxury trailer, alone, and wondering when he was going to meet his soulmate. It wasn't until he met Alves that he decided he was going to need a bigger boat. The couple met in a surprisingly interesting way, however. Alves didn't even know who he was.
Here's a look at how the McConaugheys met.
He Had To Win Her Affections While Speaking A Different Language
Surprisingly, McConaughey isn't the type of celebrity who dates his co-stars, but that doesn't mean he didn't look around. Like most people, McConaughey was on a constant journey to find "the one," and up until meeting Alves, he didn't think he'd ever find her.
So he let his guard down for a bit, thinking to himself that he'd been "looking too hard."
"I was like, 'Wait, just wait. Be yourself. She’ll come if she’s supposed to come. And if she doesn’t, that’s okay, you’re still a good man, McConaughey,'" the actor told People.
"That’s when she showed up, and she moved right to left in front of my eyes across that club. It was as if she was floating. And I did not say, ‘Who is that?’ I said, ‘What is that?’ And then introduced myself."
The night they met is certainly one McConaghey will never forget. He had no idea he'd meet the love of his life on a night out, back in 2006. He was with his friend Lance Armstrong, making margaritas when he spotted her from across the room. It was pretty much love at first sight.
"Since that evening I have not wanted to spend time with any other woman, definitely have not wanted to sleep with anyone else. I’ve not wanted to have children with anyone else other than her," he continued. "We have a love that we never question."
McConaughey sort of fumbled trying to get her to come over and had to give himself a little pep talk, but eventually, he made his way over to her and invited her and her friend over to his table.
Thankfully, McConaughey knew enough Portuguese, or else he wouldn't have been able to speak to her. He's still proud of his skills in the language to this day.
"We had a great connection. I spoke better Spanish and Portuguese that night than I have since, you know what I mean?" McConaughey told Oprah.
After all the stress that McConaughey had to go through just to get her to talk to him, he had to also deal with the fact that Alves had no idea who she was talking to. She didn't have a clue that she was talking to a famous celebrity at all. To be fair, McConaughey's appearance, at the time, was a bit misleading.
"The first interaction, I did not know who he was," Alves told Access Hollywood. "At the time, he had a really long beard and he had this Rasta hat. He was all covered up, and I didn’t really realize who he was."
Despite McConaughey's weird appearance, Alves seemed to like him enough to go on a date with him.
"It’s gotta be the right person but it has to be the right time," McConaughey told People in 2017. "We went out on our first date three nights later and I knew then that the next night I wanted to go on another date … And I've been wanting to go on a date with her for the last nine years. And not with anybody else."
Marriage Wasn't The First Thing On Their Minds
After dating for two years, Alves gave birth to their first child, Levi, in 2008, and two years later, their daughter Vida came. It was only after the births of their first two children that they thought maybe they should get married.
"Well, we had children first. Two of our children before we got married before she handed me the invitation to our wedding," McConaughey joked to People.
McConaughey actually proposed to Alves on Christmas Eve in 2011. The next year they finally tied the knot after being together for six years. Levi was the ring bearer and Vida was the flower girl. Shortly after, their family was complete when their third child, Livingston, was born.
Parenting these three little humans is the best thing that's ever happened to the couple, who have the same "moral bottom line." They are letting their kids form their own personalities but "shepherd them" as much as possible.
They've come a long way from thinking they'd never find their soulmates. Alves never even thought she'd get married. Now they have this incredible marriage and family, traveling the world with each other, appearing on red carpets and awards shows. We're so jealous. McConaughey is L-I-V-I-N man.
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