Already tapped for a villainous turn (eventually played by Kiefer Sutherland) in "A Time to Kill" (also 1996), Joel Schumacher's film based on John Grisham's best-seller, McConaughey lobbied for the leading role when other more established actors (reportedly Brad Pitt, Woody Harrelson and Val Kilmer) failed to impress Grisham, who, as a producer, had casting approval. His screen test won over the author, earning him the part of a young lawyer who defends a black man accused of murder, and the Hollywood publicity machine went into motion as soon as the film began lensing, reaching a fever pitch in the summer of 1996 (just prior to the film's release) when he landed on the cover of Vanity Fair, the piece de resistance of a pervasive media campaign plastering him across print and TV forums. He even managed to earn respectable critical reviews for his performance in the commercial blockbuster.

McConaughey had already completed a supporting role as a truck driver in "Larger Than Life" (also 1996), starring Bill Murray, before the release of "A Time to Kill". Based on the hype, he soon became the "next big thing", with studios dangling offers. Warner Bros. had wisely signed the actor to a three-picture deal in 1995 and announced he would act opposite Jodie Foster in Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi drama "Contact" (1997). Unfortunately, script changes failed to justify expanding the relatively minor role of Foster's love interest, a former seminarian now acting as a spiritual adviser to a US President, and he paid the price of his newfound status with a less than inspiring performance. His miscasting as an 18th-century New England lawyer in the overly earnest "Amistad" (also 1997) further tarnished the "golden boy" image. Hampered by a bad hairdo and oversized glasses that down-played one of his assets--his looks, McConaughey failed to grab the opportunities of his substantial role. A more modern, period piece, "The Newton Boys" (1998), reunited him with Linklater and showed him to better effect, allowing his natural twang back in the speech of Willis Newton, the brains of the 20th-century real-life Texas bank-robbing family.

Having co-produced and co-starred in Sandra Bullock's short "Making Sandwiches" (1997), McConaughey helmed his own, "The Rebel" (also 1998), before starring in Ron Howard's "EDtv" (1999), a picture which enabled him to draw on his own brush with the overnight fame that followed the release of "A Time to Kill". His good-looking doofus Ed Pekurnay experiences a similar fate when he agrees to let a TV crew document his life 24-7 for a show that unexpectedly takes off in the ratings. Hampered at the box office by its perceived similarity to the previous year's "The Truman Show", it still offered the actor a chance to carry a picture, and he managed quite well thanks to the natural zaniness he brought to the part. He then joined the daring rescue of a top-secret decoding device from a German U-boat in the World War II suspense thriller "U-571" (2000). In 2002, McConaughey was cast as the love interest of Jennifer Lopez in "The Wedding Planner" and won praise from fantasy fans as a dragon fighter in the surprisingly fresh "Reign of Fire."