Matthew McConaughey was banned from saying the word "can't" when he was a child.

The 38-year-old actor was forbidden by his parents from saying anything in life was impossible.

He told BANG Showbiz: "When I was growing up, we couldn't say the word 'can't'. If we did my dad would say, 'I beg your pardon, did you say you were having trouble?' So it would be, 'Yes sir, that's what I said.'"

"Also, we could maybe get away with the odd cuss word, but I remember the day I came home after I'd heard the word 'hate' at school, and told my brother 'I hate you'. I mean, time stopped. My mother said, 'You said what?' That was a good whupping I got that day."

"They always taught me that we didn't always have to like each other, so long as we always knew we all loved one another."

Matthew and his brother Rooster, 53, were brought up by their parents Mary and James in Texas.

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