United Kingdom, Sept. 22 -- Matthew McConaughey planned to become a monk.

The 55-year-old actor has revealed he initially decided to devote his life to God but a friend talked him out of the idea and he pursued a career in Hollywood instead because he would have squandered his "gift" for storytelling.

Matthew told the Guardian newspaper: "I believed my calling was to become a monk ... I would have made a good monk. I revere dedication, a life that dedicates itself to God, that sees God in every natural thing, at all times ...

"I had long talks about it with a Benedictine monk friend of mine who's now an abbot at a monastery, and he said: 'Nononononononoonono, you're a communicator, you're a storyteller, do not go to live a hermetic lif...