Matthew McConaughey talks his 'McConaissance' backstage at Oscars

LOS ANGELES, March 3 (UPI) -- In the years since his memorable turn as an ambitious strip club owner in 2012's Magic Mike, a new term has emerged to describe Matthew McConaughey's unlikely career resurgence from mediocre rom-com star (ahem, Failure to Launch) to Oscar winner.

The 44-year-old Oscar winner addressed his so-called "McConaissance" backstage after Sunday night's ceremony.

"That term I heard?" Somebody said it in Sundance," McConaughey told reporters. "I didn't know what he said, but he was like, 'you're on a McConaissance.'

"I was like, 'I don't know what that is, but it sounds good,'" he joked.

"I've been more like 'f**k it,' go for the experience, Matthew. "What's the personal experience I can get out of this as an actor?" he said of his well-received turns in recent films like The Wolf of Wall Street, Lincoln Lawyer and Mud. He's also an early favorite for an Emmy nomination for HBO's True Detective. "If it goes straight to DVD, forget it. That was about making the movie. It was a process -- you worked with people and went to work and put your head down and did it. Now, the results came in more than ever by just putting my head down and sticking to the process."

"It feels -- I’m not gonna say surreal," he said. "I did not expect it. It’s the end of a journey with this film, this script that came across my desk four years ago. … The movie, the script, no one wanted to make it for 20 years. And then it came across my desk and we somehow got it made and got it across the line."

[HitFix, EW, NOLA]