'Time to come together'

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Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey hopes something good can come out of the coronavirus crisis and that Americans can come together to end years of deep political division.

The Dallas Buyers Club star made the observation in a video message posted on Twitter on Tuesday, as bars and restaurants shut in cities hard hit by the outbreak, including New York and Los Angeles, following bans on mass gatherings.

After telling his followers to take care of themselves and not to "get paranoid" during the crisis, the star delivered a message of unity.

"Let's do our due diligence and take the precautions we need to take care of ourselves and those of us around us. Right now, more than ever before, we're more dependent on each other than we ever have been," he said.

"But, we have an enemy in coronavirus that is faceless, raceless, sexless, nondenominational and bipartisan. And it's all an enemy that we agree, we're gonna beat. We wanna beat, and we're gonna beat 'em."

Expressing his hopes the virus would lead to political change, the Magic Mike actor added: "So, in this time when people are gonna move on, the economy's gonna be in shambles for who knows how long, there is a green light on the other side of this red light that we're in right now.

"I believe that green light is gonna be built on the values that we can enact right now. Values of fairness, kindness, accountability, resilience, respect, courage. If we practice those things right now, when we get out of this, this virus this time might be the one time it brings us all together and unifies us, like we have not been in a long time."

Matthew, whose adopted hometown of Austin, Texas was hit by the cancellation of its SXSW technology, music, and film event, closed by questioning if people could make some "lemonade out of lemon" and "turn a red light into a green light" by being kinder to each other.