NEWSMatthew McConaughey Defends His Mom 'Testing' Wife Camila Alves When They Started Dating: 'My Family Is Big on Initiation'
Matthew McConaughey has no issues with his mom Mary Kathleen McCabe's intimidating ways.
Last month, the actor's wife, Camila Alves, revealed that in the early days of their romance, her mother-in-law was always "testing" her, something that quickly got under the model's skin.
The Oscar winner touched on the confession in a new interview, noting that Alves isn't the first to be targeted by his brood.
Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey met in 2006 and married six years later.
"My family is big on rites of passage and initiation, and you don’t get into the McConaughey family easily," the dad-of-three confessed.
"We test you. And even in our own family with my brothers and mother," he spilled. "Me and my brothers get on our high horse about something. Oh, my family, we humbly wait, we make you cry, and then we pick you up and make your favorite drink, ‘You’re welcome back.’"
The Texas native said it's his family's 'rite of passage' to 'test' newcomers.
"So there are initiations, rites of passage that my family’s always enjoyed," McConaughey, 53, reiterated.
When a reporter asked him if he and Alves, 40, plan to do the same to their kids' future partners, he replied, "We’ll see."
"We’re just coming on the beginning of this stuff," he noted, as his children — sons Livingston, 10, and Levi, 15, as well as daughter Vida, 13 — are still young.
"You know what I mean? Talk to me in about three years, and I’ll have a better answer," the Dallas Buyers Club lead said. "Navigating is not going to be perfect, but I think we’ll work it out."
The movie star admitted his mom often 'tested' his girlfriends.
Alves dished on McCabe's antics on an August episode of "Southern Living’s Biscuits & Jam" podcast, noting, "She did all these things when I first came in the picture. She was really testing me. I mean, really testing me."
"She would call me by all of Matthew’s ex-girlfriends’ names, she would start speaking Spanish with me in a very broken way, kind of putting [me] down a bit. I mean, all kinds of stuff," the Kids BBQ Championship guest host recalled.
Alves now has an 'amazing relationship' with her mother-in-law.
Things finally changed when they all went on a vacation together, as Alves decided to speak up.
"About day three, I was taking her to her room, and she got into this whole other thing that it's not my place to share, and she starts crying, and I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ and feeling so sorry," she said "And as I put her to bed, I look at her and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh. She's full of s---.'"
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"I just flip it on her and brought my spicy Brazilian, Latin side, and I let her have it. So I went back at her, and we had it back and forth, back and forth," shared the Hollywood beauty. "And then at the end, she just looked at me and she was like, 'OK. Now you’re in.'"
Ever since then, they've had "the most amazing relationship," Alves insisted. "I have so much respect for her. She has so much respect for me."
ET Canada talked to McConaughey about how his mom treated Alves in the beginning of their relationship.
