Matthew McConaughey Shares the Simple Phrase He and Wife Camila Alves Tell Son Levi, 17, About Nepotism

Matthew McConaughey is sharing the simple phrase he tells his teenage son about nepotism.

The actor, 55, appeared on Today‘s “Sunday Sitdown” on Oct. 12 and opened up to host Willie Geist about filming his new movie, The Lost Bus, alongside his 17-year-old son, Levi McConaughey. For the film, which follows a school bus driver (Matthew) who saves several kids during a deadly wildfire in California, Levi plays the son of his dad’s character.

“There was an extra, sort of soul to it for me. It felt very professional doing it with him though,” Matthew said. “I said, ‘I can help coach you, I can help teach you what I can. But once we show up on the day, I’m not there as a safety net.’ And he showed up.”

“He’s not looking at me to go, ‘Hey, is it okay? How’d I do?’ He worked with the director and I sat back as a proud dad going, ‘There we go,’ ” the Oscar winner recalled.

Asked by Geist, 50, if his son is going to follow in his acting footsteps, Matthew said that the teenager is “leaning into it.” Matthew added, “I’m not putting that pressure on him either way, but he’s off to a great start. He’s in the door. As far as nepotism goes for me, Camila and I always say, ‘Don’t you ever feel entitled.’ ”

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“When he read for this role, he sent it to the casting director and she said, ‘I think it’s good enough to send to the director.’ And I went, ‘Pull his last name.’ And the director saw it and said, ‘That’s the kid.’ So he got it on his own merit,” noted the dad of three.

Matthew and wife Camila Alves McConaughey share three kids together — Levi, Vida, 15, and Livingston, 12.

In September, Matthew shared with PEOPLE his measured response when Levi approached him about auditioning for a supporting role in The Lost Bus. “I always pitch what story I’m doing, what the movie’s about [to my family],” said Matthew, who sat down with Levi and his mom, Kay, 93, for a recent cover story. “And I pitched it and it got to the part where my character had a son and Levi goes, ‘Well, how old’s the son?’ ” 

It turned out the part was the same age as Levi and hadn’t been filled yet. “And then I was like, ‘Could I read for it?’ ” Levi said. “And you were like, ‘Yeah.’ ”

“And then I didn’t bring it up again,” said Matthew with a smile. “I had to badger him,” recalled Levi.

The actor shared how he held back, curious to see how invested he was in the role. Levi “came back three more times after that to go, ‘Well, can I read for it?’ ” Matthew remembered as Levi grinned on. “And I wanted to test and see how much you wanted to read for this thing, right?”