In looking back at the career of Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey, many might not remember that in the same year he was breaking out as a romantic lead with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, he was seen starring in Tiptoes, a bizarre comedy from writer-director Matthew Bright. It’s one you would certainly not expect to see made today — particularly with talent at his level.
McConaughey reminisced about the politically incorrect project, which had future Oscar winner Gary Oldman playing a little person, in conversation with comedians Tom Segura and Bert Kreischer in a recent episode of their podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave, which saw them play the film’s trailer for the star for the first time.
“Did you know that when people watch the trailer for Tiptoes, they think it’s a sketch?” Segura asks McConaughey in the clip, part of which you can view below. “Did you know that, that no one thinks it’s real?”
“I did not know that,” the star replies, with Segura continuing, “I’ve shown that to so many people and they’re like, ‘When the f*ck did SNL do this?’ And I’m like, ‘No, this is real, dude.’”
McConaughey jokes that the project “wasn’t quite real, but it was real,” and Segura adds, “It’s insane. The first time you see it, you’re like, ‘What the f*ck is happening?’ This is one of the craziest things that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve enjoyed it so much.”
Patricia Arquette, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Beckinsale and Gary Oldman in ‘Tiptoes’ poster
Reality Check Productions/courtesy Everett Collection
Co-starring Kate Beckinsale, Peter Dinklage, and Patricia Arquette, 2003’s Tiptoes tells the story of Steven (McConaughey) and Carol (Beckinsale), a couple dealing with unexpected family revelations. As a man of average height, Steven hides a significant part of his background from Carol: He comes from a family of little people, which includes his twin brother Rolfe (Oldman, transformed with the help of prosthetics). When Carol becomes pregnant, she begins to question Steven’s silence around his family, especially when the genetic possibility that their child might inherit dwarfism becomes a real concern. Rolfe, who has been somewhat estranged from Steven, ultimately becomes an unlikely guide for Carol as she explores her own feelings and Steven’s insecurities.
While some considered the project offensive even two decades ago given its casting choices and general depiction of little people, it continues to engender curiosity as a pop culture oddity to this day.
“I’ve never seen the trailer. This is so good,” McConaughey tells Kreischer and Segura following his first viewing. Particularly amusing to the trio is voiceover in the trailer which describes Oldman’s part as “the role of a lifetime.”
McConaughey confirms that this was very much a “real production,” though Segura insists, “No one thinks that’s real. Not a soul.”
McConaughey calls the film “absurd,” saying , “It doesn’t look real, but damn, that’s a good trailer. That goes for it.”
When asked how he approached his work on the picture, McConaughey confirms that he tried to take it seriously, “straight-facing it.”
“Look, it was obviously a wild concept. [But] you see the talent it drew,” he says. “It was anarchic; it still had some heart to it, which I think maybe in the script, felt less sentimental than that [trailer] did. We knew it was a soap opera, but it felt so corny. Like, ‘This is wild.’”
McConaughey said he thought the film might be an opportunity to pair “high comedy” with scenes that “might actually make you drop a tear. And the second half of that trailer pushes that direction.”
“By the way,” Kreischer interjects, “I’d like to commit to that writer and director. Tom and I will do any movie you want to do, sight unseen, and we’ll also pay for it. But it’s got to be as good as that f*cking trailer.”
McConaughey appeared on 2 Bears to promote his memoir Greenlights. He’s taken a bit of a break from the big screen in recent years, most recently starring in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen back in 2019, though he recently voiced Cowboypool in Deadpool & Wolverine. Up next, he’ll be seen in Paul Greengrass’ Apple pic The Lost Bus and Andrew Patterson’s thriller The Rivals of Amziah King opposite Kurt Russell.