Matthew McConaughey had no idea his son Levi McConaughey wanted to act until he approached him about a role in his dad’s new movie, The Lost Bus.
“I had no idea he was even interested,” Matthew, 55, told reporters while standing alongside his son at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of the Paul Greengrass film on Friday, September 5. “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?’ 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].”
Matthew explained that Levi, 17, approached him “four more times,” asking if he could audition for the part.The actor finally approached the casting director, Francine Maisler.
“The role was open to read for. He got him on camera, [Levi] read the scene, and I said, ‘OK, he can hold the frame and he’s got the instincts for it. We’re sending the audition in,’” Matthew said.
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He believed his son’s tape was good enough for a callback, but the casting director insisted it go right to director Greengrass.
“I said, ‘OK, if you do that, then pull his last name off. All right? So he doesn’t know,’” Matthew continued. “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.”
Levi told reporters that he was “not expecting it at all” when he heard he landed the role. “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 even admitted he started crying when he heard he booked the gig, which even got his dad a little misty-eyed.
“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 recalled.
The Lost Bus is based on a story out of the 2018 Camp Fire, in which a school bus driver (Matthew) and teacher (America Ferrera) saved 22 children as they battled the one of deadliest and most destructive fires in California’s history.
Matthew’s mother, Kay McCabe McConaughey, also appears in the film as Matthew’s onscreen mom.
“We actually have myself, Levi and my mother in the same scene. I don’t know when the last time that was done. There’s three generations in it,” Matthew said. “My mom has always been a performer so she’s been in some films. Richard Linklater put us in the same film, in Bernie, before.”
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Matthew shares Levi, as well as daughter Vida, 15, and son Livingston, 12, with wife Camila Alves. The couple dated for five years before getting engaged and tying the knot in 2012.
“I try as a father not to make things harder but to go, ‘No you got to earn that. I’m not handing that to you,’” he told the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” podcast in 2024 of making sure his kids don’t ever feel entitled because of his celebrity status. “If you pull it off the first time? Bravo. But if you skin your knees a few times on the way? Bravo. I’m not giving you the pass to the door. Look, you’re going to get more access with us [as parents]. I have no problem getting you in the door. Once you’re in the door, bro, it’s on you. So don’t embarrass yourself and handle it and show up on the other side. Let’s see where the rubber hits the road.”
