Matthew McConaughey opened up a couple of candid conversation he had regarding nepotism together with his son, Levi McConaughey, who stars alongside him in latest movie The Lost Bus.
In an interview on Sunday Today With Willie Geist on October 12, Matthew, 55, said that Levi, 17, won the a part of his son within the film on his own merit.
“I’m not putting that pressure on him either way. But he’s off to an incredible start, and he’s within the door,” Matthew said.
“So far as nepotism goes for me, Camila and I all the time 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 feel it’s adequate to send to the director.’ And I went, ‘Pull his last name.’”
In The Lost Bus, directed by Paul Greengrass, Matthew plays a college bus driver who must save 22 children from deadly wildfires in California. Levi plays his son within the movie, while Matthew’s mom, Kay McConaughey, plays his mother.
Chatting with Willie Geist, Matthew shared what it was like working together with his son and the pride he felt on set.
“There was an additional type of soul to it for me,” he admitted before happening so as to add, “It felt very skilled doing it with him though.”
“I said, ‘I may also help coach you, I may also help teach you what I can, but once we show up on the day, I’m not there as a security net.’ And he showed up. He was not 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!’”
“To have my mom here and my son here and be in the center as a bridge of those generations doing something that became a profession for me, that [in] 1992, I didn’t know if it was going to be a weekend hobby but turned out to be a profession — very cool,” the Interstellar star added of working together with his mom and son.
Matthew previously revealed that he had “no idea” about Levi’s acting ambitions until his son approached him a couple of role in The Lost Bus.
“I come home, you realize, pitch the story to the family, as I all the time do, and I get to the part about my son, and [Levi] says, ‘How old is your son?’” Matthew recalled to reporters through the film’s premiere on 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 slightly bit, right? I desired 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 immediately impressed.
Levi McConaughey knows his parents’ pull in Hollywood definitely advantages his newfound acting profession, but he still desires to prove himself worthy. In a sit-down interview with People published on Wednesday, September 24 — during which he was joined by his dad, Matthew McConaughey, and his grandmother, Kay McCabe McConaughey — Levi, 17, admitted he’s […]
“I said, ‘OK, should you try this, 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, ‘That is the child.’ She goes, ‘Really?’He goes, ‘Yeah.’ She goes, ‘That’s actually Matthew’s son!’ He was like, ‘Great.’ And so I used to be like, ‘Great,’ [Levi] was like, ‘Great,’ and we had an enormous celebration that day.”
For his part, Levi said, “I knew it was audition, but I didn’t think I used to be going to get the part. I never acted before, really, on this level.”
The teenager admitted he cried when he discovered that he’d gotten the part, something Matthew attested to.
“I keep in mind that day. You acted all cool on the phone and were excited after which once you hung up, your eyes did well up,” Matthew told Levi.
In addition to Levi, Matthew and Alves, 42, share daughter Vida, 15, and son Livingston, 12.