Matthew McConaughey name-dropped Jennifer Lopez when he got pulled over by Mexican police

Matthew McConaughey has revealed how working with Jennifer Lopez got him out of trouble with border police officers in Mexico.

Prior to his career pivot in the 2010s, nicknamed “The McConaissance”, the star was known for making romantic comedies. One of the most successful was The Wedding Planner, the 2001 film where Lopez plays the titular role of a wedding planner who falls in love for her client’s fiance, played by McConaughey. The film was a box office success, and has since gone on to become a cult classic for fans of the genre.

In a new interview, McConaughey revealed it even got him out of trouble with the law.

“Wedding Planner got me out of a major, major mess-up in Mexico one time,” the Oscar winner recalled on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“I pulled in one late night and [was] crossing the border going way down south, and I get pulled over, and it’s one of those pulled-overs, where they noticed me, gringo in the truck, nice truck. This is that dress down, and I’m like, aw, jeez, get the wallet out. Here we go. And it was going down.”

He continued: “And then I brought up, ‘You guys know Jennifer Lopez?’ And I was like, ‘Ever see Wedding Planner?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, it was me.’” The officers realised who he was, before asking for photos with the actor “And then they let me go,” McConnaughey cheerfully concluded.

Elsewhere in the discussion, he disclosed that he was offered the part of Joel in the award-winning HBO drama The Last Of Us, a role that eventually went to Pedro Pascal.

Matthew McConaughey made headlines this week when he performed a bluegrass cover of Ella Langley’s country song ‘Choosin’ Texas’ on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, winning approval from the singer herself.