Matthew McConaughey is currently promoting his new movie, The Lost Bus, which hit theaters on September 19 and will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on October 3. Matthew’s 17-year-old son, Levi McConaughey, and his 93-year-old mother, Kay McCabe (aka MaMac), both have small roles in the movie. Levi plays the son of Matthew’s character, a role that he absolutely did not get because of his famous last name. Kay, of course, plays his mother. All three McCs sat down for a cover story with People, where they chatted about Levi’s acting debut, how Matthew’s parenting style is different from his own mother’s, and recounted some old stories.
On how MM’s parenting style differs from Kay’s:
Matthew: “In our family Camila and I try to listen longer, try to understand. Camila and I will explain more of what we mean by more than just, ‘I said so.’”
Kay: “I asked them, ‘Do you ever get in any kind of argument?’ And I don’t know which one said it, but it was more or less, “When we do, we don’t do it around the kids.”
Matthew on how she’d blab about him to the tabloids: I’d say we’re closer now. We had about an eight-year period where I had to have short conversations with her on our Sunday phone calls because she was sharing a lot of that information. I’d tell her something on Sunday between son and mom, and Tuesday I’d read about it in the news or see it in the local paper. She couldn’t help herself…About eight years after that I got stable enough with my own position and fame that I was like, “You know what? My mom can say whatever the hell she wants.” It’s much more fun now.
Levi on the pressure of being “Matthew McConaughey’s son:” “[I]t’s just starting. 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.”
Matthew on his son being a nepobaby: “There’s a line between entitlement and shame. If you can look it right in the eye and deal with it, and if it works out, you’ll see, it’s a hell of a roller coaster.”
Matthew’s advice to Levi on dealing with fame: “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. It’s hard to keep your feet on the ground to sift out the real stuff from the BS. But over time you’ve got to get that sixth sense. 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.”
Ah, yes, who can forget about how Kay used to leak stories about her own son? Good for them for moving past it (I guess), but it still blows my mind. Then again, she’s always been messy. After all, she married Matthew’s dad three times and divorced him twice and bragged about having relations with Woody Harrelson’s dad.
Anyway, it was nice to get to know Levi a little bit more. He seems like a nice kid. He’s lucky to have his dad around to give him advice about fame. Their answer about him being a nepo-baby was a decent start, but it would be nice if they just acknowledged the label. It sounds like the McC kids grew up in a very non-Hollywood household. They also talked a little bit about how Levi and his siblings had to do chores and that Camila Alves is big on family traditions. Speaking of, Matthew calmed down a lot after he married Camila. She’s clearly a very stabilizing presence in his life. I bet that’s why Kay decided to “haze” her when they first got together.
Photos credit: Captive Camera/Cover Images, Getty
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