Matthew McConaughey’s Mom Wanted His Dad to Remain Naked After He Died While Having Sex

Matthew McConaughey‘s late father died exactly how he wanted to.

In a new interview with The Guardian, The Lost Bus star, 55, again recounted the surprising circumstances of his father James Donald McConaughey’s 1992 death.

James suffered a heart attack after having sex with Matthew’s mother, Mary Kathleen “Kay” McConaughey. The actor first revealed the story in his 2020 memoir, Greenlights, writing, “He had a heart attack when he climaxed.”

It was, in fact, James’ wish to die making love to his on-again, off-again partner Kay, Matthew confirmed to The Guardian.

“When I got that call it was a Monday afternoon, and I was in Austin and they were in Houston. Mom said: ‘Your dad has moved on,’ but she didn’t tell me on the initial call how. When I got back she told me,” Matthew said in the new interview.

Following James’ death, “They hauled him out on the gurney and they tried to cover him up, and my mom’s in the driveway, and she pulled the sheet off him. It was 7:30 a.m.,” he recounted. “My understanding is that they made love that morning about 6:30 a.m. and as soon as they finished having sex he had a heart attack.”

Matthew said Kay “wasn’t standing on ceremony. ‘That’s Big Jim, he’s gonna go out how he went. Don’t be trying to cover up how he went out. He’s in his birthday suit and he’s right there. Don’t be covering that man up!’ ”

In his memoir, Matthew — one of three boys, including brothers Rooster and Pat McConaughey — wrote that his dad “was the abominable snowman, the immovable force, a bear of a man, with the immune system of a Viking and the strength of a bull.” At first, he wrote, he felt “Nobody or no thing could kill him. Except Mom.”

Kay and James were married and divorced throughout their relationship, tying the knot for the first time in 1968 after meeting in college. Their romance lasted for 24 years.

Matthew previously called the loss of his father “the biggest moment of becoming a man” in an April conversation with Landman star Jacob Lofland for Interview magazine.

“Because dads are, like, they’re above the law. . . I remember, though, gaining a lot of courage,” Matthew said at the time. “There were things I was doing that he had taught me how to do, but I was kind of half-assing them, because I felt like, ‘Well, the real dude’s right behind me.’ His moving on kind of gave me a kick in the caboose to have courage.”

Matthew’s latest film, The Lost Bus, is now in select theaters and premieres globally on Apple TV+ on Oct. 3.