During a recent stop on his blockbuster 2026 With Heaven On Tour, Zach Bryan has revealed that, when the idea was first proposed for Matthew McConaughey to star in his ‘Nine Ball’ music video, he scoffed as he thought it would simply “never happen”.

The legendary Texas film-star, of course, did end up appearing in ‘Nine Ball’ back in 2024 alongside fellow Hollywood favourite, Tye Sheridan. McConaughey plays a crooked gambling shark, who uses his son (Sheridan) to win him money playing pool.

While introducing ‘Nine Ball’ at Cleveland's Huntington Bank Field, Bryan recalled how the star-studded video came about, “[I was like,] ‘I think I want to make a music video for it. What if I hired some, like, crazy actor?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah man, get, like, Denzel Washington or Matthew McConaughey or something’”.

The ‘Something in the Orange’ singer-songwriter shares how he thought this was a ridiculous idea, “And I was like, ‘You guys are f****** idiots. There's no way that'll ever happen’”.

He goes on to playfully recount the moment McConaughey said ‘Yes’, with the ‘Drowning’ crooner jokingly referencing the actor's iconic catchphrase, “So I emailed this guy. I get a call like two days later, he goes, ‘Alright, alright, alright. I'll be in your music video’”.

At the time, the Oklahoma native emphasised his appreciation for the Interstellar actor via social media, stressing how generous he was with his time, “thank you being so kind and open-hearted these passed few days @officiallymcconaughey; for all the advice and believing in something I cared enough to write about. you'll always have a friend in me and for once it was an honor to meet a hero”.

A few fans have taken to the comments section to claim that Bryan has told a similar story about ‘Nine Ball’ before, but that he used to say his ex-girlfriend, Brianna LaPaglia, was the one who thought of the concept for the video and got McConaughey involved.

It's unclear which version of events is more accurate, with LaPaglia being involved in other Bryan videos during their time together, such as ‘Oak Island’. Either way, it was a major coup to get McConaughey on-screen for ’Nine Ball’, with this move highlighting Bryan's own star-power and status as one of modern music's most impactful artists. Bryan's next show takes him over to Europe, with the ‘Dawns’ hitmaker returning to the place he got married to his wife, Samantha, in Spain.

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Featured photo by Laura Ord