McConaughey on Armstrong Doping Confession: 'I Was Mad'

Matthew McConaughey expressed his disapproval over his friend Lance Armstrong's history of doping.

Armstrong sat down for a candid chat with Oprah Winfrey last week and admitted he had been lying for well over a decade about the banned substances he had taken to help him win cycling races. 

"My first reaction was I was (ticked) off," McConaughey told MTV News over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. "I was mad. I then got kind of sad for him. First off, I had a part of me that took it kind of personally, which I think a lot of people have."

The 43-year-old actor and the 41-year-old cyclist, both natives of Austin, Texas, are close friends who are often seen partying and sharing physical fitness activities together.

"What I realized is that those of us that took that personally, like, 'Oh, he lied to me!' That's not true," McConaughey said. "What I mean by this is, what was he supposed to do? Call me to the side and go, 'Hey man, I did it but don't tell anybody.' Then I would have really had a reason to be (ticked) off at him, going, 'You want me to walk around holding this?' "

McConaughey continued on to say that some people are never going to forgive Armstrong. Though Winfrey said during her interview with the athlete that "The truth will set you free" the actor added, "Yeah, but she forgot one part. It's miserable in the beginning. And it's going to be miserable."

"But he's looking it in the eye, and he'll handle it. He'll deal. And he's ready for how hard it's going to be to deal," McConaughey added.

The actor is currently promoting his movie "Mud" at the annual Sundance Film Festival held in Park City, Utah, from Jan. 17 until Jan. 27.