Why Matthew McConaughey changed son Levi’s last name during ‘The Last Bus’ auditions

Matthew McConaughey didn’t want his son, Levi, to depend on his last name in order to land a part in The Lost Bus, he wanted him to earn it.

During the world premiere of the drama, which was held at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, Sept. 5, the Oscar winner was joined by his wife Camila and their eldest of three kids, 17-year-old Levi. McConaughey’s mom Kay, 93, and Levi have roles alongside McConaughey in the movie, which is directed by Paul Greengrass and produced by Jamie Lee Curtis. The cast also includes America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Spencer Watson.

There was a Q&A after the screening, during which McConaughey brought Levi onto the stage before proudly sharing how he came to be cast in the film.

“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 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.”

The actor continued, “He came back four more times and I said, ‘Okay, now he’s working for it, for the idea.’ 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, 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.’ “

McConaughey said he told 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?”

“She said yes,” he recalled. “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.’ 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.”

The Lost Bus is a film 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 is in select theaters September 19, then streaming on Apple TV+ October 3.