Matthew McConaughey’s New Movie Is a Family Affair

“She was like, ‘I want to get up!’  ” McConaughey added, teasing his mother. “And I was like, ‘The character can’t do that! No, no, no!’  ”

Method acting may not be for everyone in the family.

But audiences, too, will be unsettled (in a good way) when they immerse themselves in the story. Produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, the film is a two-hour-plus, heart-thumping, chaotic ride with a ticking clock to catastrophe. Think Speed with a blazing inferno and a busload of terrified, gasping-for-breath kids.

“I got very good at driving that bus,” boasted McConaughey, who performed his own stunts for the action scenes, dodging flames and other obstacles in his way. “Kids can be great actors if they can just relax and be honest and react to a situation.”

For authenticity, director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) cast real-life firefighters in the film.

“He said, Nonactors make actors better actors,” said McConaughey, “and actors can make nonactors better actors.”

“And we had real fires!” added Kay.

America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey in "The Lost Bus," coming soon to Apple TV+.

Courtesy Apple TV+

More assuring nods from McConaughey. “We’d have big plumes of fire go from zero to eight feet,” he said. “And that’s another thing where, boy, you don’t want to overrun your mark at the time when that fire’s going to bounce up eight, 10 feet or 20 feet in the air.”

To prepare for the role, McConaughey met up with the real-life bus driver, Kevin McKay, whom his character is based on. McKay described the emotional, existential question he was forced to ask himself the day of the deadly fire:

“Do you go save your family?” McConaughey said, “or do you decide to take a ride and go pick up the [stranded] kids because you got an empty bus?”

The answer to that question led to another theme of the film and a little family discussion.

“Everyone’s always talking about what’s the definition of a hero, da, da, da,” said McConaughey. “And there was a lot of heroic people and heroic acts at this time. But I think one consistent thing is that heroes are someone when there is a crisis, whatever that crisis is, they’ll run to it instead of away from it.”

“And that’s what Kevin did,” added Kay.

“The selfless act of Kevin in real life,” said Levi, “that’s what the story is about.”

“And second chances,” said Kay, “they’re beautiful. Kind of like redemption.”

Mindful of his son’s entrance into showbiz (Levi also has Way of the Warrior Kid with Chris Pratt and Linda Cardellini in the can, set for release in December), McConaughey reflected on his decades-long career.

“I learned to love the craft,” he said. “I mean, I liked what I was doing at the beginning when I first started, but I didn’t actually know what I was doing. I had instincts when I first started 30, whatever, years ago. Then, after about eight years, I started to learn the craft of acting.... When I did that, I started to learn how to love it. I learned what to do if I got in trouble, if I got in a funk, if I was stuck.... I learned how to break down characters. That took 25, 30 years.”

Today, he looks for more than a great role or an Academy Award; he seeks on-set synergy, a communal rhythm. “I want to have a personal experience,” he insisted. It’s what he gave his son the boy’s first time out.

Working with his father and grandmother “made it more fun,” said Levi. “Because after, we can all look at each other and give each other hugs and kisses.”

He looked over at his dad. “And we have this for the rest of our lives, which is awesome.”