Actor Matthew McConaughey has revealed that he once had a near-death experience with a snake when he used to live in Australia.

During a show, the actor recalled almost getting bitten by a brown snake, reports eonline.com.

"When I was here, I almost stepped on one and I should have been bitten," he said.

"Yeah, I was going back in the back shed down in a friend's house in Waterville and stepped on something. It was a bit dark and just as I opened it, I saw it went right through my legs and it gave me a bit of a scare. And then my friend came over and they caught it and they said,‘'That's a brown snake, mate. That could have really s**ked'."

Despite almost being bitten by the reptile, the Oscar winner said that it's still his favourite Australian animal: "That's my favourite animal because it didn't bite me."