Matthew McConaughey opened up about a candid conversation he had regarding nepotism with his son, Levi McConaughey, who stars alongside him in new movie The Lost Bus.
In an interview on Sunday Today With Willie Geist on October 12, Matthew, 55, said that Levi, 17, won the part of his son in the film on his own merit.
“I’m not putting that pressure on him either way. But he’s off to a great start, and he’s in the door,” Matthew said.
“As far as nepotism goes for me, Camila and I always say, ‘Don’t you ever feel entitled,’” he added, referring to his wife, Camila Alves. “When he read for this role, I sent it to the casting director. She said, ‘I think it’s good enough to send to the director.’ And I went, ‘Pull his last name.’”
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In The Lost Bus, directed by Paul Greengrass, Matthew plays a school bus driver who must save 22 children from deadly wildfires in California. Levi plays his son in the movie, while Matthew’s mom, Kay McConaughey, plays his mother.
Speaking to Willie Geist, Matthew shared what it was like working with his son and the pride he felt on set.
“There was an extra sort of soul to it for me,” he admitted before going on to add, “It felt very professional doing it with him though.”
“I said, ‘I can help coach you, I can help teach you what I can, but once we show up on the day, I’m not there as a safety net.’ And he showed up. He was not looking at me like, ‘Hey, is it OK?’ Uh-uh,” the actor said. “He worked with the director, and I sat back as a proud dad going, ‘There we go!’”
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“To have my mom here and my son here and be in the middle as a bridge of those generations doing something that became a career for me, that [in] 1992, I didn’t know if it was going to be a weekend hobby but turned out to be a career — very cool,” the Interstellar star added of working with his mom and son.
Matthew previously revealed that he had “no idea” about Levi’s acting ambitions until his son approached him about a role in The Lost Bus.
“I come home, you know, pitch the story to the family, as I always do, and I get to the part about my son, and [Levi] says, ‘How old is your son?’” Matthew recalled to reporters during the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. “I said, ‘He’s about your age.’ He says, ‘Can I read for him?’ And what did I say? I didn’t say anything. I muted him a little bit, right? I wanted to see [if he was truly interested].”
Levi’s audition tape was submitted to Greengrass by the film’s casting director, Francine Maisler, without his last name on the submission. The director was instantly impressed.
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“I said, ‘OK, if you do that, then pull his last name off. All right? So he doesn’t know,’” Matthew explained. “And Paul saw the read without the last name, he goes, ‘This is the kid.’ She goes, ‘Really?’He goes, ‘Yeah.’ She goes, ‘That’s actually Matthew’s son!’ He was like, ‘Great.’ And so I was like, ‘Great,’ [Levi] was like, ‘Great,’ and we had a big celebration that day.”
For his part, Levi said, “I knew it was a good audition, but I didn’t think I was going to get the part. I never acted before, really, on this level.”
The teen admitted he cried when he found out that he’d gotten the part, something Matthew attested to.
“I remember that day. You acted all cool on the phone and were excited and then when you hung up, your eyes did well up,” Matthew told Levi.
As well as Levi, Matthew and Alves, 42, share daughter Vida, 15, and son Livingston, 12.
