WATCH: Matthew McConaughey: ‘Wear The Damn Mask,’ ‘Let’s Quit Messing About’

Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has said, in no uncertain terms, that people need to “wear the damn mask” until the COVID-19 pandemic has officially been defeated.

In an Instagram video post for July 4th, the “Interstellar” actor wished America a “Happy Birthday” while encouraging people to continue wearing masks.

“Happy 244th birthday, America,” said McConaughey. “We is going through some growing pains on this one, aren’t we? But growing pains are a good thing, because how the hell else are we going to grow up? I think we gotta look each other in the eye. I think we gotta look ourselves in the eye.”

“We gotta look in the mirror and ask ourselves, ‘How can I be better? How can I expect more of myself and others? How can I be more responsible? How can I have more compassion? How can I have more courage? How can I be more fair? How do I make sure I wear the damn mask?” he continued.

McConaughey said that this “collective change” will only come as a result of individual changes.

“We individually make these changes, that’s how we make a collective change,” he said. “That’s how we get to next year’s birthday and birthdays beyond that.”

“And we start parting again, looking around and saying, ‘Oh, yeah, we always got work to do. We never arrive, but we improved.’ That’s our chance, that’s our opportunity. That’s on me. That’s on you. It’s game time. Ding ding, we are in the ring, America. Let’s quit messing about and get it done,” he concluded.

The actor’s comments echo what he previously told Fox News in early May about how wearing masks should not be a politically divisive issue.

“I could feel that this united purpose we all have as Americans to beat this enemy and this virus, that purpose got hijacked a bit by partisan politics,” McConaughey said. “The narrative became, if you want to go to work, you’re on the far right. If you don’t go to work, and you want to stay home, you’re on the far left.”

“And now even the mask-wearing is getting politicized, where if you want to wear a mask, you wear a mask, you’re a liberal. And if you don’t, you’re a conservative – and that’s just not true,” he added.

Rather than fight “two wars” against both each other and the virus, McConaughey said that Americans need to come together and fight the virus.

“But if we try to fight the one against the virus, which is the one we should be fighting,” McConaughey said. “We’re gonna beat it.”

“Part of it is saying just that, to remind us that this is not about politics. It’s about us, the USA,” he added. “We’ve gotta take care of each other right now. We have a collective purpose. I mean, how many times do we have a unanimous, are we unanimously convicted of an enemy that we all want to beat? And look at how great Americans are when purpose comes to us in a crisis. Look at who we are in World War II.”