Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey got behind the wheel for his new survival thriller The Lost Bus, but locals in a major Texas city may have also spotted a familiar face sharing the screen.
San Antonio native Cesar Flores, who joined New Braunfels ISD earlier this year as its transportation director, made his film debut playing bus shop foreman, a small role he landed unexpectedly while working at his former district in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His journey to Hollywood began unexpectedly in November 2023 when scouting manager Mark Hammons and director Cliff Lanning visited his Santa Fe school district transportation lot.
They were looking for a realistic bus yard and asked if he could help train an actor to look like a real bus driver. At first, he didn’t realize the project would grow into a major film. When the filmmakers returned months later, they revealed the movie had been picked up by Apple TV+ and that the actor in question was none other than McConaughey.
The Lost Bus is based on a true story from California’s 2018 Camp Fire, one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. The film follows a bus driver who risks everything to guide 22 students and teachers through the flames to safety. Directed by Paul Greengrass, the film stars McConaughey, America Ferrera and Ashlie Atkinson. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and began streaming on Apple TV+ in early October.
“At the time, all they could tell us was that the actors’ initials were M.M,” Flores tells MySA. “So everyone was trying to take a guess at it. Of course, being a Texan, the first thing I guessed was Matthew McConaughey. One of the guys that heard me say that and he just says, ‘all right, all right, all right,’ and it gave it away.”
Cesar Flores poses with Matthew McConaughey on set during the filming of Apple TV+’s The Lost Bus. (Courtesy of New Braunfels ISD)
Flores said working with McConaughey was a memorable experience, noting how down to earth the actor was and how seriously he committed to his role.
“Seeing him get into character was really neat, when he committed, he was that character,” Flores said.
Despite the usual rules about not talking to actors on set, Flores, at times, felt comfortable chatting with McConaughey, even discussing Texas Longhorns football and life in Texas.
Flores tells MySA he was impressed by the dedication of both the cast and crew. He found the actors to be humble and admired how hard the staff worked, often putting in 15-hour days to support the production. Also, what started as a routine project soon became a family affair, with Flores’ daughter jumping immediately to seize the opportunity as an extra while he already had speaking lines in the film.
Cesar Flores goes behind the scenes on the set of Apple TV+’s The Lost Bus, getting a firsthand look at the filmmaking process. (Courtesy of New Braunfels ISD)
“It was a really cool opportunity, something I never expected and it just worked out really nicely,” he said, reflecting on the unexpected experience that brought them both onto the set.
The experience wasn’t just memorable for Flores personally, it also gave him a chance to share insight on the filmmaking process and highlight the dedication of bus drivers nationwide.
“It was really nice to be able to share that experience with my daughter,” he said. “I thought that was a really cool thing to do. And from the transportation side of things, it was pretty cool to see the movie and have people realize just what everyone does, the dedication, the love for their kid and the way bus drivers take care of them. I think it was a nice representation of what bus drivers across the nation do for their students.”
The Lost Bus is now streaming on Apple TV+.
This article originally published at How a San Antonio native ended up in McConaughey’s newest film.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
