Levi McConaughey is alright, alright, alright with this bond.
The actor, 17, explained what it was like to portray characters with a strained relationship opposite his real life dad, Matthew McConaughey, in the “Lost Bus.”
“Just the confidence of our relationship outside the movie, because in the movie, it’s not a good relationship,” Levi told People on October 18. “But to be able to do it and then come out of the scene, and give each other a hug and go, ‘Thank you. Thank God that that’s not how our relationship is in real life.’ It just made it easier and fun.”
Along with the teen, Matthew, 55, and wife Camila Alves, 42, also share kids Vida, 15, and Livingston, 12.
Levi also took a moment to gush over his tight-knit family, crediting his glowing appearance to “spending some great time with them, and time with myself.”
The father-son duo starred in the “Lost Bus” together earlier this month. This project marked Levi’s first acting gig.
The movie is based on true events from the 2018 Camp Fire in the town of Paradise. The blaze still remains one of the deadliest in California’s history. Jamie Lee Curtis serves as a producer, while the rest of the star-studded lineup included America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson and Spencer Watson.
Matthew previously opened up about the tips he gave his first born ahead of career in Hollywood.
“I’ve tried to give him some tips that I’ve learned along the way, tried to give him some of those tips earlier than I understood them,” the actor told People in September. “I really got into the public eye when I was about 23 or 24 with ‘A Time to Kill.’ It was a lot: boom! All of a sudden, the world was a mirror. I didn’t meet any strangers or expectations and ‘I love yous’ all around.”
Matthew confessed that it could be “hard to keep your feet on the ground to sift out the real stuff from the BS.”
“But over time, you got to get that sixth sense,” he continued before adding of Levi, “it’s important that he has his own ownership of who he is and becomes. And [acting] will be a part of that if he continues to do it, part of finding his identity. But it can’t be his full identity.”
Levi did admit that he does feel the heat of being Matthew’s son.
“Yeah, it’s just starting,” he told the outlet. “And as much as people can say, ‘Oh, you got this because of your father or your mother,’ they can open the door, but then it’s going to be up to me to do my thing once I get in there. That’s on me.“
As Levi put it: “You got to have some chops.”
Meanwhile, Matthew was hesitant to let his son audition for the part in the first place.
“I had no idea that this young man, my son, was interested [in acting],” he stated during a Q&A at the Toronto Film Festival, “but when I pitched the script to the family, as I always do before work, the part about Kevin [McKay] having a son, he asked me one day, ‘Well, how old is he?’ I said, ‘He’s about your age.’ And then he goes, ‘Think I could read for it?’ And I didn’t say anything. That wasn’t enough to make me say ‘maybe’ or anything.”
Levi was persistent and continued to ask his dad about the role.
Matthew explained, “He came back four more times and I said, ‘Okay, now he’s working for it, for the idea.’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ I knew they hadn’t cast the part. Pulled out the camera, worked with him on a scene, and sent that to [casting director] Francine Maisler, and I said — remember I had a note? — I said, ‘I think it might be good enough for a callback.’ And she wrote back, ‘I think it might be good enough to show to Paul [Greengrass].’”
