McConaughey is considered odd even by Hollywood standards but I think he is odd is a good way. Very down home, very nice to be around, very weird. He was always getting into trouble with his neighbors for playing his bongo drums at all hours of the night while sitting in his backyard, but I heard he was always very understanding of their wishes when they would tell him to knock it off.

The bongo drums are important to him as they help him to think. He operates on a very high mental level. Most actors operate on a very high party level.

He has a lot of storyteller in him which is something you don't find in actors too much. They may carry on about how important the story is, but when they are on the set they will read the screenplay for that day's shooting and then party all night. And then there are those that want to know the story from beginning to end and just how every little they they do drives the story. This makes small actions the actor makes at the beginning of the film mesh with actions they take at the end.

Usually actors rely on the Director to do this for them. McConaughey is known for wanting to get it right on his end, too, and not standing around later and blaming the Director for a flop.

His acceptance speech was different, but then he is different, so for the folks there that have worked with him, well, I doubt that anyone was shocked at what he said.