McConaughey: New Frontier Is Attainable

Matthew McConaughey has said his latest film has taught him that a new space frontier is "more attainable" than most of us think.

The Oscar winner is starring in Christopher Nolan's epic science fiction family drama Interstellar.

The 169-minute movie focuses on an astronaut-turned-farmer, Cooper, who leaves his family back on a dying Earth to head up an expedition through a wormhole in search of a new habitable planet.

On the red carpet at the premiere in Hollywood McConaughey asked: "What did I learn? That the unknown out there, that new frontier is more attainable than I thought before."

He added: "I would say that the expectations of mankind must be more than ourselves, and the further out there that we explore, and the more things out there that are unknown that we discover, we actually see that it reciprocates - comes right back to each of us: you and me, and becomes extremely more personal, the further out there we go, the more personal it actually is, and the more personal responsibility we actually have for wherever we go."

Actress Anne Hathaway, who portrayed Catwoman in Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (2012), said the new film's genre is "Christopher Nolan".

"Chris' movies are never just one thing, you know, he's too clever for that," she explained.

"He's not boxed in. So this is so many things. This is a sci-fi movie and it is an intimate family drama and it is action adventure and it's completely all these things but it's also itself."

Hathaway also explained how she was close to getting hypothermia during filming when her space suit sprung a leak.

"Water got in and I was, after I'd been sitting underwater for a considerable amount of time, I just thought I would just ask the first (assistant director) what the symptoms of hypothermia were, just so I could be on guard against them.

"And he said 'why do you need to know?' And I explained what had gone on and all of a sudden we were shooting very, very quickly and we wrapped shortly thereafter.

"But it wasn't dire. It wasn't tragic. I was never risking my life for my art or anything like that."

Two major Hollywood studios have backed Interstellar, with Paramount releasing it in the US and Warner Bros distributing it internationally.

"I think what I said to them is, 'I want to make a mind-blowing science-fiction film that has heart, that has emotion, that has a relatable human character,'" recalled Nolan.

"'So, I want to try and combine the intimate scale of human interaction, and the connections between us and exploration, with the vastness of the universe, and try to put these two things together'.

"I saw that as a fascinating combination and a great challenge for me as a film-maker."

The film also stars Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Ellen Burstyn and Casey Affleck.

Interstellar is in cinemas from 7 November.