Matthew McConaughey looked every bit the doting dad as he took his daughter  Vida, 15, to the UT Women’s basketball game against Tennessee on Thursday night.

The Oscar winner, 55, who graduated from UT Austin in 1993 and is a professor of practice at the Moody College of Communication, looked laser-focused while watching the Longhorns take on the Lady Vols. 

After the nail-biting game, both McConaughey and his teenager, who he shares with wife Camila Alves, looked thrilled that their team came out of the Southeastern Conference victorious. 

To their joy, the Longhorns scored the game’s last four points and escaped with a narrow 80-76 win.

The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor recently shared a loving birthday tribute on Vida’s birthday earlier this month on January 3. 

‘Vida. 15 years. Thanks for being my tech guru, so savvy, and for loving to grow things. Love Papai,’ he captioned a childhood pH๏τo of her in nature gardening. 

Matthew McConaughey looked every bit the doting dad as he took his daughter Vida, 15, to the UT Women’s Basketball game against Tennessee on Thursday night

Vida, who earned her first acting credit in 2021 after landing a small role in her father’s movie Sing 2, is McConaughey and Alves’ only daughter.

Back in 2020, her father revealed to People that she ‘really likes to paint and draw and loves graphic novels.’ 

Read More Matthew McConaughey reveals the real reason he relocated from California to Texas

In addition to their little girl, the couple share sons Levi, 16, and Livingston, 12.

McConaughey is frequently seen on campus at his alma mater, where he serves as the University of Texas at Austin’s self-appointed ‘minister of culture.’ 

The role is seemingly aimed at cultivating a strong sense of pride in the university, not just from students, but from the community as a whole. 

He joined UT Austin’s Radio-Television-Film department as a faculty member in 2019. He’d previously served as a ‘visiting instructor’ starting in 2015. 

He graduated the university in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film. He originally intended to pursue a law degree. 

McConaughey, who believes the Moody Center is a ‘natural extension’ of his minister of culture role, partnered with Oak View Group, Live Nation Entertainment/C3 Presents, the University of Texas and Dell Technologies to bring the Moody Center to life. 

The Oscar winner, 55, who graduated from UT Austin in 1993 and is a professor of practice at the Moody College of Communication, looked laser-focused while watching the Longhorns take on the Lady Vols 

After the nail-biting game, both McConaughey and his teenager, who he shares with wife Camila Alves, looked thrilled that their team came out of the Southeastern Conference victorious

Plans for the arena have been in the works since late 2018, according to Texas Monthly.

The Dazed And Confused star contributed heavily to the Moody Center’s overall atmosphere with an emphasis on fan engagement, according to Austin360.

‘That means more noise. That means more of a live experience, not only for the fan but for the player, for the band,’ he explained to the outlet in 2021.

The Moody Center holds over 15,000 seats and cost an astonishing $375million to build. It is located on the University of Texas at Austin campus in the heart of Downtown Austin. 

The venue was designed with concerts in mind and promises to ‘provide state-of-the-art amenities and top-tier hospitality for artists and fans.’ 

To their joy, the Longhorns scored the game’s last four points and escaped with a narrow 80-76 win

The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor is frequently seen on campus at his alma mater, where he serves as the University of Texas at Austin’s self-appointed ‘minister of culture’

He joined UT Austin’s Radio-Television-Film department as a faculty member in 2019 

McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas in 1969. After spending most of his life in the Lone Star state, the actor got his big break in 1993’s Dazed And Confused and transitioned to a life in Hollywood.

He would officially move back to Texas in 2012 after marrying Alves.

After moving back to his home state, McConaughey eagerly immersed himself in the Austin culture, which included frequents appearances at the University of Texas at Austin’s many sporting events.

In 2021, he spoke to Jimmy Fallon about his decision to not run for governor of Texas as he promoted his animated feature Sing 2.

‘Well, it was a two-year consideration that I came to the decision really over the last couple of months,’ Matthew told to the host.

Wanting to focus on his family, he admitted that politics is ‘not the category for me at this point in my life.’

McConaughey’s daughter is the spitting image of her mother Camila Alves (seen earlier this month) 

Last year, he and his wife reflected on their move from Hollywood to Texas for more privacy while gracing the cover of Southern Living. 

‘We were living a happy life in Malibu. We had a beautiful house that we’d built together and put a lot of love and care into. We were raising our kids there. I was growing everything in the yard. I had bees making honey,’ the mother-of-three reflected. 

Following a family crisis, which brought their family to Austin, Texas to help his mom and two brothers for several weeks, Alves noticed a shift in her spouse’s energy that was lighter and happier.

She went on to recall watching him as they were stopped at a red light with a ‘peaceful but confident, energetic look’ on his face.

‘You want to move here, don’t you?’ she remembered asking him, to which he responded: ‘Yep.’

Her response was: ‘You son of a b**ch.’

‘As soon as I chuckled, the light turned green and we pulled out,’ he added, noting she quickly agreed.

In addition to Vida, the couple share sons Levi, 16, and Livingston, 12 (McConaughey’s family pictured all together on April 25, 2024 at the the 12th Annual Mack, Jack & McConaughey Gala)

McConaughey admitted the Malibu-to-Texas transition was more difficult for his wife as she has only ever lived in Brazil, New York and Los Angeles.

Still, she pointed that her upbringing in Brazil wasn’t too different.

‘We grew up saying ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘No, sir’ or—as I should say—’Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Yes, sir,’ ‘ she pointed out. ‘It takes me right back to how I was raised.’

Additionally, she described some of their traditions in Texas, including ‘going to the church’ every Sunday and how sports have become ‘a stronger tradition for the kids.’

Last year, he and his wife reflected on their move from Hollywood to Texas for more privacy while gracing the cover of Southern Living; seen on November 29, 2019 in Austin

‘Ritual came back, whether that was Sunday church, sports, dinner together as a family every night, or staying up after that telling stories in the kitchen, sitting at the island pouring drinks and nibbling while retelling them all in different ways than we told them before,’ McConaughey raved of their life after moving to Texas (pictured in 2019)

‘Ritual came back, whether that was Sunday church, sports, dinner together as a family every night, or staying up after that telling stories in the kitchen, sitting at the island pouring drinks and nibbling while retelling them all in different ways than we told them before,’ McConaughey interjected.

Some of the biggest draws to the actor about returning to his home state are how a ‘mile here in Texas feels like a mile’ and ‘an hour feels like 60 minutes.’

‘Time slowed down,’ McConaughey explained. ‘The clock was right, the body clock. And part of that is ritual; part of that is just the distance between places and the way people move. But it’s also the hospitality, the courtesy, the common sense, the lack of drama.’ 

After nearly ten years in Texas, Alves said she can confidently call Texas her home.

She and McConaughey famously met at the Hollywood nightclub Hyde in 2006, at the peak of his rom-com fame while she was working as a model.