Matthew McConaughey Says Returning to Acting “Sounds Like A Vacation” as He Prepares for ‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff

Matthew McConaughey says he’s finally ready to return to acting – and it’ll most likely be in that rumored Yellowstone spinoff from Taylor Sheridan.

While talking to Dax Shepard on his podcast, the Oscar-winning actor reflected on the recent break he took from acting. Instead of continuing his turn in drama, he took a few voice-acting gigs and released a memoir.

“To go have some structure like, ‘I got a call time, I’ve got lines, I’ve got scenes, I’ve got a character’ … That sounds like a vacation right now to me,” McConaughey said.

Though he did not name the Yellowstone spinoff specifically, it is one of the few confirmed projects he has coming down the pipeline. The only other confirmed project was Dallas Sting, a Rocky-esque feature about a girls soccer team that was shut down just two months before production began.

Details are scant, but Paramount President Chris McCarthy confirmed in April the spinoff is definitely still happening – whether or not Kevin Costner returns to the franchise. McConaughey was reportedly still in negotiations in February, according to Deadline. There have also been reports claiming “several” of Yellowstone‘s “big stars” will appear in the spinoff.

“I’ll be a different or improved actor in my own right after these last three years. I deliberately chose to go focus on some things I was talking about,” McConaughey said, later adding, “The last few years I had a really wonderful time getting rid of a lot of those filters that come with acting.”

He went on to explain that he did a lot of self-reflection during his hiatus and contemplated what kind of roles he wanted to play moving forward. He said he felt “more interested” in acting now after his hiatus. “The idea of going to act in the right role or the right movie, film or series right now, sounds like an awesome vacation,” he said.

McConaughey certainly wouldn’t be the first A-list star to join the ever-growing Yellowstone universe. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren already star in the prequel series 1923, which tells the story of the Dutton family during that year.

Sheridan reportedly has more than 10 projects in the works at Paramount thanks to the Western drama’s resounding success.

But the franchise has found itself in a difficult position recently after Costner had a few scheduling complications. Reports claim that Paramount may end the show “in its current form” if this continues. It appears they have switched gears and are focusing on developing this spinoff with McConaughey.