Matthew McConaughey is watching his 17-year-old son Levi McConaughey follow in his footsteps with his acting debut in their upcoming survival drama, The Lost Bus, premiering on Apple TV+ on Oct. 3.
However, given the current scrutiny against children of actors landing high profile TV and film roles, Matthew is not oblivious to the nepotism controversy.
In a recent joint interview with People, Levi was asked if he ever felt any pressure of being “Matthew McConaughey’s son,” and both Levi and Matthew weighed in.
“Yeah, it’s just starting,” Levi explained. “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.”
“There’s a line between entitlement and shame,” added the 55-year-old actor, who also stars in the film. “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.”
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When asked if he prepared Levi not just for show business, but living in the public eye, Matthew said that he’s tried to give him some tips that he’s learned along the way, but has also attempted to give him those tips earlier than he understood them.
“It’s hard to keep your feet on the ground to sift out the real stuff from the BS,” Matthew continued. “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.”
The so-called “nepo baby” debate has been going on for years.
It first entered the mainstream lexicon back in 2012 with the premiere of Lena Dunham‘s Girls, since both of her parents were well-known artists. Not to mention, her co-star Allison Williams also received some of the backlash since her father is news anchor Brian Williams. Then, a few years back, New York Magazine reinvigorated the debate by publishing the cover story, “Extremely Overanalyzing Hollywood’s Nepo-Baby Boom.”
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Many celebrities who have benefited from nepotism have spoken out against the debate. However, Williams, in particular, gave a reasoned response when asked about the criticism by The Guardian while promoting her recent film M3gan 2.0.
“Aside from all the many layers of privilege, high on the list is the fact that I could pursue a career in acting without being worried that I wasn’t going to be able to feed myself,” she told the publication back in June. “I had been surrounded by people who did what I wanted to do.”
In either case, it sounds like Levi has his feet on the ground and a good mentor in his dad for helping him navigate it all.
