Matthew McConaughey thinks writing his memoir made him a better actor

He told Variety: "The memoir was extremely honest and it forced me to be honest with myself.

"It cleared up things you've been thinking about for 35 years. And it makes you realise that's kind of who you are, Matthew. Let's admit that and shake hands. Bravo.

"That gave me even more trust in myself, because, you know, there was less to maybe hide about myself. I had shared it. So that's made it easier for me to be honest as an actor."

As well as writing his book, the 'Dallas Buyers Club' star - who has Levi, 16, Vida, 14, and Livingston, 12, with wife Camila Alves - took on some voice roles and spent time with his family during his acting break and he felt being away from the cameras was valuable.

He said: "I needed to write my own story, direct my own story on the page."

But once he got back to work, Matthew quickly remembered how much he loves acting and how it never feels like a hardship.

He said: "I remembered a couple of things. One, how much I truly enjoy performing.

"Two, I remembered, hey, McConaughey, you're pretty damn good at this.

"And three, I remembered that acting is a vacation for me, and what I mean by vacation is that when I'm performing, it's my singular focus.

" When I walk out the door in the morning, my wife says, 'Go kick some a**. I got the kiddos. We're good.' That's vacation.

"Because I'm not multitasking. I'm not compartmentalising. I'm fully focused on finding the truth of my character."