The Lincoln Lawyer

Matthew McConaughey was looking good as the center of attention at the big premiere of The Lincoln Lawyer last Thursday, and he started the day at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, where he chatted with reporters about the legal thriller. The actor plays wheeling-and-dealing attorney Micky Haller in the new movie, which costars Ryan Phillippe and Marisa Tomei and is out in theaters March 18. We heard from Matthew on the reason he decided to leave his own dreams of practicing law behind, why he didn't want to meet Ryan before they filmed their first scene together, and how his car is one of his favorite places to be. Here's what he had to say:

• On why he didn't want to meet Ryan before shooting: You know, with Marisa Tomei who plays my ex-wife, yeah. We have a history, so when you meet us on film, we’ve met. William H. Macy, we have a history. Ryan — he’s a client, I’m his attorney. We first meet each other in this story. I didn’t want to show him my hand. I didn’t want to share anything about what I was thinking. And I didn’t want to know anything from him. I didn’t even really want to kind of get to know him in any way. I felt more comfortable just [saying] "I’ll meet you on screen the day we’re doing our work . . . I’ll meet you through the character." It wasn’t until it was over that we looked at each other and went, "Nice work, man. Hey, how ya doing?"
• On whether he has a driver like his character: I prefer to drive in my real life. Behind the wheel is my favorite spot. My own car is a mobile office. I love sitting in a car seat, controlling my music, controlling the temperature, backing the seat up, putting my leg out, moving the rearview mirror, the sideview mirror. When I lived in my trailer and was traveling across the United States, [and someone would say] "OK, it’s Thursday. I can come in Saturday morning to meet you." And I’d look at the map and say, "Well, I’m heading East. I’ll be in Tucson by Saturday morning. Why don’t you fly into Tucson airport, I’ll pick ya up, and I’m gonna keep driving East. We’ll spend the day together and then you get a flight back out of El Paso. And I’ll drop you off there." Some of the best business I ever did.
• On how having kids changed his car: It’s all mixed in, man. They don’t have the carseat down, do they? Have you ever tried to get one of those in quickly? I’m not very good at it. And they’re not easy to clean at all. Always crap stuck in there. Now stuff is mixed in, but I know anything the kids or anything I need, it’s somewhere in my car. Sometimes, I’m out and I go, "Oh, I forgot that." And I go, "No, it’s in here somewhere." Sometimes it means getting out and digging in the back, but it’s in there somewhere.

For the rest of the interview with Matthew, just read more