In this unedited footage from the Fred Miller Collection, film critic Joe Leydon interviews actor Chris Cooper, actor Ron Canada, and director John Sayles about their work on the film Lone Star (1996). They discuss Texas-Mexico border culture, working in Texas, story telling, and their characters in the film.
Fred Miller, media producer and Austinite, is best known for his work producing the Academy Award-nominated documentary For All Mankind (1989), which follows the Apollo moon missions from 1968 to 1972 and was selected as the Audience Favorite and the Grand Jury Winner at the Sundance Film Festival in 1989. He also created Texas Entertainment News in 1995, a show featuring information about the Texas entertainment industry and Texan performers, which combined broadcast television and Internet streaming. His work includes numerous industrial and commercial works.
Born in Uvalde, Texas on November 4, 1969, actor Matthew McConaughey has appeared in some of Hollywood’s most popular films. McConaughey grew up in Longview as the youngest son of a teacher and the owner of an oil pipe supply business. McConaughey originally studied to be a lawyer at the University of Texas. The actor cites reading Og Mandino’s motivational book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, as his inspiration to change his major and career path from law to film.
Prior to his 1993 breakout role as Wooderson in Richard Linklater’s cult classic Dazed and Confused, McConaughey acted in commercials and student films. Throughout his career, he has performed in, produced, and directed over fifty feature films. His select filmography includes John Sayles’s Lone Star, Contact, How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days, Magic Mike, Killer Joe, Wolf of Wall Street, and Richard Linklater’s Bernie, in which he played small town Texas attorney Danny Buck and his mother had a cameo. He also achieved great popular and critical success for his role as Detective Rust Cohle on HBO's True Detective in 2014. McConaughey won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actor In a Leading Role for his portrayal of a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in Dallas Buyer's Club in 2013. In addition to his film career, McConaughey established the j.k. livin Foundation in 2008. The Foundation is dedicated to teaching high school students the importance of active living and healthy decisions.