Matthew McConaughey told a Toronto International Film Festival audience that he quietly arranged an audition for his eldest son and asked a casting director to remove the family name so the boy would be considered on his own merits for a role in The Lost Bus.
The 55-year-old Oscar winner said his 17-year-old son, Levi Alves McConaughey, asked four times to audition for the part of Shaun, the son of McConaughey’s character Kevin McKay. McConaughey said he filmed a tape of his son, sent it to casting director Francine Maisler and suggested the tape might merit a callback. He asked Maisler to submit the tape without the McConaughey surname. "When you do that, will you do me one favor? Will you pull the last name off so it's just, there's no McConaughey on the end of that?" he recalled asking. Maisler agreed, McConaughey said, and director Paul Greengrass called back, saying, "That's the guy, that's the son." When Maisler later informed Greengrass of Levi's parentage, McConaughey said the director responded, "Even better!"
The remarks came during the Q&A at the world premiere of The Lost Bus, a 129-minute survival drama that had its TIFF bow last week. The film, produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, also stars America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez and Ashlie Atkinson. The big-screen adaptation of Lizzie Johnson's 2021 book Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire is scheduled for a limited U.S. theatrical release on Sept. 19 and will stream on Apple TV+ beginning Oct. 3. The Lost Bus held a 100% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews at the time of the premiere.
McConaughey described a modest path into the industry for his son, saying Levi's first set job was receiving "cash for catering" on his father's productions. Levi made his commercial debut last year in a Father's Day-themed spot for Lincoln. McConaughey said he had previously supervised his son on the set of McG's Navy SEAL-inspired teen drama Way of the Warrior Kid, which is set to premiere on Apple TV+ Dec. 25.
Levi, who was born in Los Angeles, was allowed to join Instagram and TikTok on his 15th birthday in 2023 and has since amassed a significant following. McConaughey and his wife, model Camila Alves, whom he was married to for 13 years, have three children: Levi, 17; daughter Vida, 15; and son Livingston, 12.
At the TIFF appearance, McConaughey also discussed other projects on his slate. He is slated to begin a five-date "Poems & Prayers" book tour Sept. 16 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Jon Bon Jovi participating as moderator for the opening event. Upcoming film and television credits include Andrew Patterson's crime thriller The Rivals of Amziah King, projects connected to writer Nic Pizzolatto, an Apple TV+ comedy series titled Brother from Another Mother with Woody Harrelson, and a screen adaptation of the video game Exodus.
McConaughey's account of the audition process placed Levi's casting within a conversation about access and opportunity in the entertainment industry. The actor framed his involvement as support for his son's request to try out for a role and as an effort to have Levi evaluated without the immediate weight of his family name. Greengrass's decision to cast the younger actor followed a traditional callback process after viewing the submitted tape.
The Lost Bus will be among several releases this fall that spotlight family dynamics both on and off screen, and the film's festival reception is likely to shape its wider critical and commercial trajectory when it reaches theaters and streaming next month.