Matthew McConaughey camped with snakes and donkeys for new film

London: Actor Matthew McConaughey camped with snakes and donkeys on a deserted island in Arkansas for the preparation for his role in Jeff Nichols` ‘Mud’.

The 43-year-old actor essays the role of a Southern fugitive living on a Mississippi island awaiting his true love in the film, reported Contactmusic. "The only neighbours were a few snakes and two donkeys. It was pretty cool," McConaughey said. McConaughey wanted to get a feel for his character and make the portrayal accurate. He was so determined to embrace the outdoors that the film crew had to drag him away after several days. "I think he stayed two or three nights, [then] we had to go get him," said Nichols. McConaughey stars alongside Reese Witherspoon in the movie. His kids - Levi, four, Vida, three, and three-month-old Livingston - and her three children bonded while they camped on the banks of the Mississippi River. "It was like a nature vacation camping out on the Mississippi River. And we enjoyed it. The kids learned a lot about nature actually on this film. They loved it. "I loved being out there in nature like that. The stage was the Mississippi river. To live there while a while, to camp out there, you quickly get the rhythm and the sense of smell and taste and humidity and weight, and how time trickles along like that river. Its four miles per hour. It just slowly moves and it`s an unstoppable force," added McConaughey. McConaughey is married to Brazilian model Camila Alves since 2006. PTI