Summary
- Matthew McConaughey and Gus Van Sant handled the booing of their film, The Sea of Trees, at the Cannes Film Festival with grace and positivity.
- McConaughey acknowledged that fans have the right to react positively or negatively to his work and he was happy to be at the festival to support the film.
- Van Sant saw the positive side of the negative reaction and compared it to a similar fight that occurred after his film Elephant, finding it interesting.
Getting booed is tough to endure. However, certain celebs are able to handle it with class. Taylor Swift handled the booing at her friend's wedding in the best way possible, just choosing to ignore them. Even the likes of Jennifer Aniston received boos during her premiere of Life of Crime. Fans weren't happy that Jen arrived late, while ignoring the crowd.
In the following, we're going to take a closer look at Matthew McConaughey's film back in 2015, The Sea of Trees. Despite McConaughey in the lead and Gus Van Sant behind the scenes, the film was still torn apart at the Cannes Film Festival.
We're going to take a closer look at what went down, and how McConaughey and Van Sant reacted to the booing. Credit to both the veterans as they were able to keep a cool head during a difficult moment.
Matthew McConaughey Reacted To The Booing By Revealing The Crowd Has Every Right To React Positively Or Negatively To His Work
Back in 2015, the mystery drama The Sea of Trees was released, with Matthew McConaughey in the starring role, playing Arthur Brennan. It turns out, his acting chops weren't enough to save the film. Not only was the Gus Van Sant film booed at the film festival, but the reviews were also quite alarming, with a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Credit to Matthew McConaughey who didn't ignore the boos or get offended by them. Instead, the actor revealed that the fans have every right to do what they went when assessing a film.
“Anyone has as much right to boo as they do to ovate,” he said on The Sea of Trees. “I’m happy to be here. I like the film. It was a happy day to hear that it had got in. It’s exciting to come support work that I got to do with these people. This is fun, this is dessert – no matter what. We’ve declared now; thanks for having us. We enjoyed it.”
The actor was able to keep things classy, and the same held true for the experienced director behind the scenes.
Similar To McConaughey, Director Gus Van Sant Wasn't Bothered By The Negative Reaction
Hearing to boos can be a tough reality, especially at a prestigious event like the Cannes Film Festival. Nonetheless, Gus Van Sant was also able to see the positive out of the situation.
The director revealed, “But I remember there was a fight after Elephant; fisticuffs about whether it was good or bad. I thought that was interesting.”
The director felt as though this might've been a similar situation. However, once the film festival wrapped up, the film didn't enjoy the success those behind the scenes would have hoped for. Still, certain fans felt as though the movie was a lot better than what most had said.
One fan writes on YouTube under the film's trailer, "The movie is actually good, just give it a shot, yeah just bc people have different opinions and brutally gave it a bad score doesn't mean for you to not watch it. For me this film is really powerful, and it took me into a different perspective in life and how hard it is to deal with depression. And also tells you that every moment even the little things always matters the most so cherish it well."
The film scored point with certain individuals and that holds true for Matthew McConaughey who had a positive experience behind the scenes.
Matthew McConaughey Spoke Positively About His Time In The Sea Of Trees
Matthew McConaughey discussed Gus Van Sant's The Sea of Trees, calling it, "One hell of a survival story." The actor spoke about his experience on the film alongside EW.
“They are very different projects and characters yet they are both poetic,” McConaughey tells EW. “I say another title for this film is ‘You’ve got to go through annihilation to get to salvation’. It’s one hell of a survival story.”
The actor would also detail what it was like to work alongside Van Sant, “Gus is a wonderful voyeur and a really gentle soul of a man. He’s got the right sensibility for a film like this. He listens and considers any ideas that I throw at him and I undeniably trust the direction he gives me,” he says. “He’s a lot of fun to create with.”
Ultimately, McConaughey was aware that reactions would be mixed once the film was released.
“Everyone is going to leave the theater and have their own walk and talk through the parking lot to muse about its meanings, what it was about and what it wasn’t, what was real and what was a dream.”
Despite the mixed reactions from the film, McConaughey's career did not suffer one bit because of it.
