Matthew McConaughey gets honest about his son acting debut

In Apple TV+'s The Lost Bus, Matthew McConaughey will appear alongside his mother, Kay McConaughey, and his son, Levi.

At the Toronto International Film Festival, the Academy-winning actor recalls, at the survival drama's premiere, the story of his son's acting debut.

"I had no idea that this young man, my son, was interested [in acting], but when I pitched the script to the family, as I always do before work," the star shares during the Q&A session.

He recounts, "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."

After his repeated requests, the Interstellar actor says, "He came back four more times and I said, 'Okay, now he's working for it, for the idea.'"

Recording a scene that Matthew shares he sent to the casting director for review. "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."

He continues, "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.'"

A green light from the casting director means the scene would go to director Paul Greengrass for final approval. Here, the star reveals that he requested Maisler.

"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'?" the actor remembers.

Following this, the 55-year-old says, "Next call I got, [Paul] said, he goes, 'That's the guy, that's the son.' And then he was told, 'Well, that happens to be Matthew's son.'"

When Matthew eventually told Paul that Levi is his son, his reaction was, "And in Paul fashion, he was like, 'Even better!' ... So this is all due to Paul. My family's in this film because of this man to the left."

Its synopsis reads that "it is based on true events from the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in the town of Paradise, which remains among the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history."

The Lost Bus will have a limited theatrical release on Sept. 19; after this, the movie will land on Apple TV+ on Oct. 3.