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
Kay sounds awful and it is amazing how her quirks are brushed off… her son forgave her for all she did; Camilla as well for her awful behavior at the beginning… she should consider herself very lucky!
I just bet she is the most aggrevating mother in law to deal with.
You know that’s right!! My MIL used to come by our house unannounced and would just walk through the door which would infuriate me. I would purposely lock the door all the time so that IF she came over, she was forced to knock.
I cannot get over how the mother-in-law (even before she was in Matthew’s movie too) just has to be wearing the brightest outfit, the biggest jewelry, and be positioned at the center of every one of his publicity photos. I’m also not surprised that she was leaking stories about her own son’s family behind his back.
That picture of the 4 of them says it all. Camilia has a slight smile while MIL is grinning like a jacka$$ eating briars.
His mom reminds me of my own. I miss her and I don’t. Loving and cruel. That just twists you up.
Same! She seems exactly like my grandmother. My mom too, but my mom also has some different issues going on.
I knew I wouldn’t miss my grandmother when she died, and I don’t miss her much. But sometimes I do feel a twinge of it. I think it’s the loss of a connection to the weird, wacky, unstable family that I came from, a loss of the connection of people that understand why we are the way we are. After my siblings and half siblings pass away I won’t have anybody that understands why I have such a dark sense of humor, why I could read & understand & interpret a rental contract as a second grader, why I know the name of every truck stop from Tijuana to Vancouver. As the youngest, the shared history end with me….
Evil mother-in-law stories have always scared me and it’s a real experience for SO many women.
However, my MIL was amazing. She was the mother I never had. The universe knew I missed out in childhood and sent me someone to mother me during part of my adulthood.
She’s been gone for two years and I am still working through the grief stages 💔
She sounds dreadful – I admire Camila for putting up with her.
Slightly off topic, but why does Matthew’s cranium look about 25% larger than everyone else’s in that shot?
I think it’s a weird camera angle?
Because I’ve seen similar photos from that event and his head looked normal. That photo also distorts his wife’s height and his son’s height.
Bit Matthew does have a big head, or I should say it looks bigger ever since his massive weight loss for DBC.
He got the Oscar but lost his looks for it.