When you're told the story of "We Are Marshall," it seems like the anti-inspirational film of the year. But inspiration is exactly what has been crafted out of the real-life tragedy that befell Huntington, West Virginia's Marshall University in 1970.

Matthew McConaughey stars as Jack Lengyel, the football coach put in the unenviable position of leading a squad of players who choose to play after most of the first-string team is killed in a plane crash. "Lost" star Matthew Fox takes on the role of assistant coach Red Dawson.

MTV caught up with the two Matthews recently as they reminisced about the film, their favorite movies and why McConaughey doesn't know a thing about Fox's cult-fave TV show.

MTV: What got you signed on the dotted line for this film?

Matthew McConaughey: For me, it was the script. It was the first script I ever read that as soon as I finished it, I said, "I want to be a part of it." Then, meeting with [director] McG just backed it up. His passion for it was completely in the right place. I know what I want out of making movies. It doesn't have to be fun every day, but you sure as hell want to make films where everybody is trying to make the same movie.

Matthew Fox: The script was really beautiful. It moved me. I had never heard about the actual event either, and I was really blown away by the fact that I didn't know about it. It's always a great mystery to me why I respond to certain things. This was one script I finished and I just felt like I had to be a part of it.

McConaughey: You said a good thing the other day that made sense to me — that after you read it you felt "compelled" to be a part of it. I read something good and I go through this process of saying, "I really dig this, but I'm going to do my due diligence and talk with the director. I'm going to read it again. I'm going to see if it's really something I want to spend six months or a year of my life working on." This is one of those stories you read and you go, this is bigger than me. This is bigger than all of the parts. And boy, if we can tell this the right way, this should be told.

MTV: Did you agree with where you character stood on whether to rebuild the football program at Marshall?

McConaughey: I personally, instinctually was for keeping the program up and running. But to understand where Lengyel was coming from, I sat back for a week in the headspace of the town people that said we should not carry the program on. It helped me a lot on "A Time to Kill," where I was playing the defense attorney, and I sat back for a week and studied the prosecution's stance and committed myself to that side. In this movie, sitting in that space helped me better understand the reasons for why we've got to keep moving, why we've got to keep playing.

MTV: What are your favorite sports movies?

Fox: "Hoosiers" has always been one of my favorites. Every time I've ever seen that movie I've thought it was beautifully done.

McConaughey: I really enjoyed "Friday Night Lights."

MTV: Have you seen the television show?

McConaughey: No. I've watched two hours of TV in the last two months and it was a cricket match.

MTV: Not even "Lost"?

McConaughey: Never seen one episode.

MTV: You need to lend him the DVD, Matthew.

Fox: He'll pick it up one of these days. I'm not walking around trying to promote the show. People either get into it or they don't. I don't really watch much TV either. There is one show I TiVo now: Weeds is a really cool show with a great tone — absolutely hilarious.

MTV: What's the last movie each of you saw?

McConaughey: "An Inconvenient Truth." I saw it on the plane here. I really enjoyed it. It was something that could have been so heavy-handed, but I thought it was executed wonderfully. At the end, I felt excited and hopeful. It's similar, in a way, to our movie. I always walk out of ours crying, but it's through smiling teeth. It's life affirming.

Fox: I saw "The Proposition." It was a really, really cool movie. Have you seen it?

McConaughey: No. The one with [actor] Ray Winstone?

Fox: Yeah!

McConaughey: I'm working with him right now.

Fox: Are you kidding me?

McConaughey: Yeah, on "Fool's Gold."

Fox: He's awesome. I'm a big fan of that guy's work. He is freaking awesome in this movie, "The Proposition." You should see it. It's really good.

MTV: How are you doing with ceding your sexiest man alive title to George Clooney?

McConaughey: There is no such thing as conceding. Once you have the title, you have it. It's "sexiest man alive" so I figure as long as I am alive, I'm OK. There can be a bunch of us at the same time. [He laughs.]