Matthew McConaughey made son Levi prove himself before acting debut

Matthew McConaughey put his son Levi's dedication to the test before his acting debut in the upcoming film The Lost Bus.

McConaughey, 55, recently revealed a subtle parenting test he tried on his 17-year-old son and costar, Levi, before casting him in the same film.

“I always pitch what story I'm doing, what the movie's about [to my family],” McConaughey told People Magazine, referring to his wife Camila Alves McConaughy and their three kids: Levi, daughter Vida, 15, and son Livingston, 12.

“I pitched it and it got to the part where my character had a son and Levi goes, "Well, how old's the son? Turns out the role was his exact age and hadn’t been cast yet.”

“And then I was like, 'Could I read for it?'" Levi cut in, who was present during the interview. "And you were like, 'Yeah.'"

McConaughey continued, "And then I didn't bring it up again" to which Levi further elaborated, “I had to badger him.”

Levi “came back three more times after that to go, "Well, can I read for it?" Matthew recalled, turning to his son. “And I wanted to test and see how much you wanted to read for this thing, right?”

At last, McConaughey picked up the camera. “We shot a couple of takes, and I thought, ‘Okay, the guy can hold a frame.’”

McConaughey also tested his son's acting skills by withholding the last name at the time of submission. Levi landed the role on his own merit.

McConaughey’s 93-year-old mom, Kay, who once cameoed in Bernie, also plays his onscreen mother.

The Lost Bus premieres Oct. 3 on Apple TV+. Meanwhile, Levi is already onto his next project, Way of the Warrior Kid, opposite Chris Pratt.

However, the teen isn’t rushing into a full-time career just yet. “This role wasn’t me deciding, ‘Oh, I’m going to become an actor,’” he explained. “It was me saying, ‘I’m really interested in this.’”