Inside Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves’s 20 Year Love Story

• Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves met in 2006 and got engaged in December 2011.
• The couple had a star-studded three-day wedding celebration at their Austin, Texas home in June 2012.
• They’ve welcomed three children together: Levi, Vida, and Livingston.

Like many Y2K romances, Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves’s love story kicked off at an L.A. nightclub. The True Detective alum and the Brazilian-born model met back in 2006, just as Matthew was giving up hope on ever finding “the one.”

“That’s when she showed up, and she moved right to left in front of my eyes across that club. It was as if she was floating,” he told People in 2020. “And I did not say, ‘Who is that?’ I said, ‘What is that?’ And then introduced myself.”

The two got married six years into dating, in 2012, and have since welcomed three children together: sons Levi and Livingston, and a daughter, Vida.

The McConaughey family in April 2024.

Rick Kern/Getty Images

“Since that evening, I have not wanted to spend time with any other woman, definitely have not wanted to sleep with anyone else. I’ve not wanted to have children with anyone else other than her,” he explained in the same People interview. “We have a love that we never question.”

Alves has similarly gushed about her once-in-a-lifetime love with the actor. In a June 2025 Instagram post celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary, the Pantalones Tequila co-founder wrote, “I never really understood the sacred meaning of marriage until I meet [sic] you.”

Here’s everything to know about Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves’s relationship.

They met at a nightclub.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves at the Fiesta Bowl in 2006.

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Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves first met at Hyde nightclub in West Hollywood in 2006. The actor was playing bartender, making margaritas, when Alves passed by. “I can’t get my eyes off her, and I’m waving, trying to get [her attention], ‘Hey, over there!’ Finally, catch her eye,” he said during an interview with Howard Stern in 2017. “I go over and introduce myself. I do the smart thing of inviting her and her friends over.”

HIs efforts paid off, as Camila left her friends and came over to Matthew’s table.

“We go back to the house and continue to party for a while, and I’m trying to extend the time. Now she’s like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna go, I’m gonna get a cab.’ I’m like, ‘No, no, no, don’t do that, it’s way too late. Take the guest bedroom.’ Talk her into that,” he continued. Still, the model rejected him twice more before agreeing to go on a date with him.

They made their red carpet debut at the 2008 Fool’s Gold premiere.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves at the “Fool’s Gold” premiere in 2008.

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After dating for over a year, Camila and Matthew officially made their red carpet debut as a couple at the Fool’s Gold premiere in Los Angeles.

Reflecting on the day years later, Camila revealed how nerve-wracking the entire experience actually was. “I was so nervous; we had already been dating for a while, and I had been to movie premieres with him but always sneaking in through the back to keep our privacy,” she wrote on Instagram. “This was the first time going ‘here we go’ the minute I stepped onto the carpet, the WIND picked up like crazy, and this flowing, knee-length dress pretty quickly became crotch high!”

She added, “I laugh the whole way because if you can’t fix it, may as well laugh, right!!”

He surprised her with a Christmas Day proposal.

Matthew Mcconaughey and Camila Alves at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

Matthew asked Camila to marry him on Christmas Day 2011 with a rose-cut Cathy Waterman engagement ring. “It was the last gift to be opened, and I wrapped it in seven different boxes so Camila would have to keep unwrapping,” McConaughey told People about his proposal. “She got the ring. I took a knee and asked her to marry me and take my name. After a bit, she conceded … thankfully.”

McConaughey and Alves wed during a three-day celebration at their home in Austin, Texas on June 9, 2012, per People. The couple’s children, Levi and Vida, served as the ring bearer and flower girl, while celebrity guests, including Reese Witherspoon, Kenny Chesney, and Woody Harrelson, watched on as they exchanged their vows.

They share three children. 

Matthew McConaughey, Camila Alves McConaughey, and their children in 2025.

Rick Kern/FilmMagic

McConaughey and Alves welcomed their first son, Levi Alves McConaughey, on July 7, 2008, according to People.

“A healthy baby boy was born,” McConaughey said in a statement at the time. “Camila and I were side-by-side the entire time. We are both tired and elated and are so happy to have created the greatest miracle in the world — having a child and making a family. Now comes the greatest adventure — raising one, together.”

On January 3, 2010, Matthew and Camila welcomed their second child and first-and-only daughter, Vida Alves McConaughey, .

The actor announced the happy news on his website, writing to fans: “‘Vida’ is Portuguese for ‘life’ and that’s what God gave us this morning. Camila’s recovering wonderfully, and we are both truly honored to welcome this little lady into our family. Thanks for all of your well wishes and prayers along the way. Another blessed day, we give thanks.”

On July 4th, 2012, Camila announced that she and Matthew were expanding their family by one more. “Happy birthday, America, more good news, Matthew and I are expecting our 3rd child, God bless, just keep livin’,” she wrote on Twitter.

The couple welcomed a baby boy, Livingston Alves McConaughey, on December 28, 2012, just days away from his big sister Vida’s third birthday.

Nowadays, the pair are mom and dad to three teenagers, which Matthew said he’s “really enjoying” in a 2025 appearance on The Daily Dad podcast with Ryan Holiday. “I also don’t have to edit my good stories as much anymore. I can keep in the juicy stuff,” he joked of having older kids.

They had a swoon-worthy kiss when he won his first Oscar.

Matthew McConaughey embraces his wife Camila Alves McConaughey at the 2014 Oscar Awards.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

McConaughey took home his first Oscar in 2014 when he won Best Actor for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, and Camila congratulated him with a kiss in front of the entire audience.

It was one in a string of dramatic roles the actor had taken on, in what he dubbed “The McConaissance.” During a 2016 interview with Esquire, Matthew revealed that he wanted to change the course of his acting career and that his wife was all for it. Explaining how romantic comedies became his “brand,” McConaughey admitted that he wanted to be taken more seriously and turned down a $14.5 million role with Camila’s complete support.

“A good woman gives a man courage and confidence — the courage to have the confidence to go and do it, to not be worried as much or consider as much what the rest of the world thinks,” he said in his Esquire interview.

They’re both best-selling authors and business partners.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves McConaughey in 2022.

Rick Kern/WireImage

In 2022, McConaughey and Alves both landed on The New York Times best-seller list at the same time. Matthew’s memoir Greenlights had been on the list for 65 weeks already, and Camila made the list for the first time for her children’s book, Just Try One Bite.

In her Instagram post celebrating their joint accomplishments, Camila wrote that, “truth be told [McConaughey’s] been there for 65 weeks and sold over 3 million copies of #GreenlightsBook BUT we are having a tequila together on me being a 1st timer on the list!”

That line unintentionally foreshadowed another milestone they’d take as a couple in 2023: co-founding Pantalones Organic Tequila. In a joint statement released when the alcohol brand first launched, the parents of three jokingly described it as “the best thing we’ve made with our pants on,” per People.