Hollywood heartthrob Matthew McConaughey has shared a revealing and intimate story about how an unexpected dream helped him find the love of his life, Camila Alves.
In his newsletter Lyrics of Living on Friday, the 56-year-old Oscar winner opened up about a pivotal moment in his mid-30s, when he was searching for “a lifetime lover, a best friend, and a mother-to-be.”
“I was looking for more, I was looking for the one, I was looking for her. Then I had a wet dream,” McConaughey candidly wrote, as reported by Us Weekly.
The actor, known for hits like Dallas Buyers Club and Magic Mike, described a vivid dream in which he saw an older version of himself sitting on a rocking chair on his porch, surrounded by 22 women, 22 cars, and 88 children—each child representing a year of his life. Despite having fathered these 88 children in the dream, he had not married any of the 22 women.
“Each woman was serene and satisfied,” he recalled. “Every child was smiling, laughing, and healthy. We all knew one another very well.”
McConaughey painted a picture of a joyful family reunion:
“Each mother and I shared an idyllic memory, the children roosted upon my lap. We hugged, we kissed, we laughed and joked, we cried tears of happiness.”
The dream concluded with a family photograph:
“They all gathered around me on the porch for a family photograph… Three! Two! One! Then I came,” he shared.
According to McConaughey, the dream wasn’t just titillating—it carried a deeper spiritual message. He said it reminded him of his ultimate life goal: becoming a father. At the same time, it taught him to stop desperately seeking “the perfect woman” and allow love to find him naturally.
“So I quit looking for her,” he wrote.
It was shortly after he let go of his intentional search that he met Camila Alves, 42.
“Three months later, I met Camila. Twenty years later she’s still the only woman I’ve ever wanted to take on a date, sleep with, or wake up next to,” he shared.
The pair first crossed paths at West Hollywood nightclub Hyde in 2006 and went on to build a family together. They welcomed son Levi in 2008, daughter Vida in 2010, and son Livingston in 2012—the same year they tied the knot.
Earlier this year, McConaughey revealed that it was actually his eldest son who nudged him toward marriage. During an appearance on Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom podcast, he recounted how four-year-old Levi questioned why his parents didn’t share a last name.
“I’m going through my head, ‘You’re f–king 4, dude,’” McConaughey recalled. “I sat there. I was like, ‘It’s a great question, but we’re not married. When you get married, you switch your name.’”
