Matthew McConaughey recalls a nepotism conversation with his son, Levi

Matthew McConaughey He spoke of a frank conversation he had with his son about nepotism, Levi McConaugheyWho plays alongside him in the new movie Lost bus.

In an interview on Sunday Today with Willie Guest On October 12, Matthew, 55, said that Levi, 17, won the role of his son in the film on his own merit.

“I’m not putting that pressure on him either way,” Matthew said. “But he’s off to a great start, and he’s coming up.”

He added, referring to his wife: “In terms of nepotism for me, Camila and I always say: ‘Don’t you ever feel entitled?’” Camila Alves. “When he read this role, she sent it to the casting director. She said, ‘I think it’s good enough to send to the director.’ So I went, ‘Get his last name out.’”

in Lost busdirected by Paul GreengrassMatthew plays a school bus driver who must rescue 22 children from deadly California wildfires. Levi plays his son in the film, while Matthew’s mother plays his son. Kay McConaugheyhis mother plays.

talking to Willy GhostMatthew shared what it was like working with his son and the pride he felt while filming.

“There was an extra kind of spirit to me,” he admitted before adding, “It felt very professional doing it with him.”

“I said, ‘I can help train you, and I can help teach you what I can, but once we get to the day, I’m not there as a safety net.'” And he showed up. He wasn’t looking at me saying, “Hey, is everything okay?” the actor said. Uh-uh. “He worked with the director, and I sat there like a proud father saying, ‘Here we go!’

“To have my mom here and my son here and to be in the middle as a bridge between those generations doing something that became a career for me, (in) 1992, I didn’t know if it was going to be a weekend hobby but it turned out to be a career — pretty cool.” Interstellar The star added working with his mother and son.

Matthew previously revealed He had “no idea” about Levi’s acting ambitions until his son contacted him about a role in it Lost bus.

“I get home and, you know, I pitch the story to the family, like 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. He’s about your age, I said. He says: Can I read to him? And what did you say? I didn’t say anything. You silenced him a little, didn’t you? “I wanted to see (if he was really interested).”

Levi’s audition tape was presented to Greengrass by the film’s director, Francine Meislerwithout his last name in the submission. The director was immediately impressed.

“I said, ‘Well, if you do this, take his last name off. OK? So he doesn’t know,'” Matthew explained. “And Paul saw the reading without the last name, and he said, ‘That’s the boy.’ She said, ‘Really?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And she said, ‘That’s actually Matthew’s son!’ He was like, ‘Great.’ So I was saying, ‘Great,’ and (Levi) was saying, ‘Great,’ and we had a big celebration that day.

For his part, Levy said: “I knew it was a good audition, but I didn’t think I would get the role. I had never acted before, really, at this level.”

The teenager admitted that he cried when he found out he got the role, which Matthew attested to.

“I remember that day. You acted great on the phone and you were excited, and then when you got off the phone, your eyes were fine,” Matthew told Levi.

In addition to Levi, Matthew and Elvis, 42, have daughter Vida, 15, and son Livingston, 12.