Matthew McConaughey opens up about his near-fatal encounter with lethal snake

Cape Town - Move over Chuck Norris, there’s a new sheriff in town.

Actor Matthew McConaughey recently got candid about his life-threatening encounter with a brown snake in Australia in the 1980s, E! News reports.

During an interview on the Today Show, the actor, who was an exchange student at the time, revealed how he was almost bitten by the snake considered to be one of the most venomous reptiles.

The Oscar-winner was going into the back garden at a friend’s house when the incident occurred.

"It was a bit dark and just as I opened it [the gate], I saw it went right through my legs and it gave me a bit of a scare," he recalled.

"And then my friend came over and they caught it and they said, 'That's a brown snake, mate. That could have really sucked.'"

Despite his narrow escape, the Dallas Buyers Club star still considers the brown snake to be his favourite animal, Daily Mail reports.

"That's my favourite animal because it didn't bite me."

(Sources: E! News, Today, Daily Mail)

(Photo: Gallo/Getty Images)