Matthew McConaughey faced his 'demons' in Peru

Matthew McConaughey fled to Peru to fight his "demons" after finding fame.

The Interstellar actor took a three-week solo trip to South America, where he went by the name 'Mateo', after questioning what was "real" in his life and eventually found peace after locking himself away with nothing but his journals, water, steak and tequila.

Speaking on the No Magic Pill podcast, he said: "[After finding fame, I thought] 'No strangers do I meet anymore…the world is a mirror.'

"I was questioning… which part’s real and which part’s bulls***...

"Went to a place that had no electricity in the middle of the desert where I was locked in with nothing but me and who I’ve been in my past or my diaries.

"Where the demons on our back, man are, are dancing and having a good time at our expense, where the guilt can get really heavy."

The 56-year-old actor struggled for the first half of his trip because he didn't like being alone but eventually had a "breakthrough".

He admitted: "The first 12 days were wonky. And then the last 10 days were great. I was at the place long enough to go, I could live this.

"There's an initiation period when we go away with ourselves. Yes. Where the demons on our back, man are, are dancing and having a good time at our expense, where the guilt can get really heavy. The shame can get heavy.

"I do not enjoy my own company… at first. For me, it’s around day 12… that’s when the breakthrough comes."

Matthew compared his isolated trip to a psychedelic journey after taking ayahuasca.

He added: "We pull the parachute too early… If it gets hot, we can handle breaking a sweat."

Matthew recently explained he and wife Camila Alves believe family rituals with their kids Levi, 17, Vida, 16, and Livingston, 13, are vital for bringing their household together.

He told People magazine how they always find a moment in the day for all five of them to be together, and added: “Whether that’s gathering for dinner and sitting down and sharing about our day at the end of the day, or cooking a meal together or taking trips together, we do a lot together.”

The family also travel together when Matthew is on set for more than a week, a routine the Lost Bus actor says prevents long absences.

He said: “That’s helped a lot. So I’m not going to work on my own returning three months later and having to play catch-up with (Camila) or with the kids.

“Camila drew that line in the sand before we even had kids. Is it getting more difficult now to continue to do that when (Levi) is on teams and Vida’s got dance and social circles (and) Livingston’s on a football team? Will that be harder now to pull them? Yeah, we’ll make that decision when it comes. But so far, so good.”