Matthew McConaughey on Faith, Family, and Finding Belief in an Uncertain World

Summary

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Making Space with Hoda Kotb

Episode: Matthew McConaughey on Faith, Family, and Finding Belief in an Uncertain World
Guest: Matthew McConaughey
Release Date: September 24, 2025

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Overview

In this soul-searching episode, Hoda Kotb welcomes Oscar-winning actor and author Matthew McConaughey to discuss his new book, Poems and Prayers. The conversation dives into themes of faith, cynicism, hope, personal responsibility, and the struggle to find belief in a noisy, uncertain world. Through poetry and personal reflections, McConaughey shares how he maintains his sense of self, his evolving relationship with faith, and the importance of transformation in times of societal doubt. They also find time to discuss his family, teaching, advocacy, and his new film Lost Bus—which features both his real-life son and mother.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Need for Belief and the Danger of Cynicism

[03:30 - 04:36]

• Matthew McConaughey on losing faith: He discusses a sense of widespread doubt and cynicism permeating society and how this inspired Poems and Prayers.
• Quote:

  "I found myself looking around going... I'm not seeing things to believe in. I'm not even seeing reasons to believe." (Matthew McConaughey, 03:30)

• On cynicism:

  "We get educated, we get knowledgeable, we get skeptical. Good. But let's stop there, because the cynicism, I think, is an early death." (Matthew McConaughey, 04:19)

2. Faith—In Good Times and Bad

[04:36 - 06:29]

• On faith as a constant: Hoda asks if McConaughey has always leaned on faith; he admits it began in hard times, but as he matured, he learned to rely on it during times of success for humility.
• On humility:

  "Humility is admitting we have more to learn." (Matthew McConaughey, 05:27)

• His spiritual journey: McConaughey shares about agnostic years and returning to a more nuanced view, blending faith with self-reliance and responsibility.
• Quote:

  "It's about faith, but it's also about responsibility and having your hands on the wheel." (Matthew McConaughey, 05:55)

3. Overwhelm, Significance, and the Information Age

[06:29 - 08:14]

• Hoda reflects on the noise in the world; McConaughey responds with a poem about missing God’s signs due to distractions and overstimulation.
• Quote:

  "If you give everything significance, if you make every little thing significant, there's really no significance at all." (Matthew McConaughey, 07:32)

• On information overload:

  "I'm getting more knowledge, but I feel more confused." (Matthew McConaughey, 08:11)

4. Practicing Gratitude & Refilling the Tank

[08:14 - 10:26]

• McConaughey grounds himself in small gratitude and reminds himself that nothing is guaranteed.
• Quote:

  "The sun rose this morning. You woke up. Don't you dare think that was guaranteed." (Matthew McConaughey, 08:55)

• He emphasizes looking forward to something as the core of happiness and satisfaction.

5. Building a Life, Not Just Playing a Role

[10:26 - 13:38]

• Hoda observes McConaughey’s ongoing personal evolution; he describes moving from portraying characters to actively building his real life.
• Quote:

  “Instead of playing a character that someone else wrote in their script... Create the character. What are you doing in life?” (Matthew McConaughey, 11:10)

• When considering public leadership or politics, he's challenged himself to see if his values "scale" to society.

6. Ethics, Society, and the Fight for Belief

[13:38 - 14:40]

• McConaughey sees the future reform as "punk rock rage," not passive or administrative.
• Quote:

  "It's going to take a bit of a rebellion... there's dignity and ownership and power individually in choice." (Matthew McConaughey, 13:41)

• Advocates for persistence rather than quitting on things we value.

7. Stepping Into Conflict and the Rhythms of Life

[14:40 - 15:33]

• Emphasizes the importance of leaning into hardship—not running from it. Life’s crises are inevitable, but overcoming them brings growth.
• Quote:

  "Those times, the crisis is the hard things, when we lean into a resistance to overcome it because we need something more on the other side... that's part of the rhyme of our life." (Matthew McConaughey, 14:50)

8. Showing Up: Advocacy and Uvalde

[17:52 - 20:07]

• Hoda acknowledges McConaughey’s tendency to "show up" in moments that matter (including his return to his hometown of Uvalde after the school shooting).
• He describes going to Uvalde to listen, not preach, and his horror at the idea of society accepting mass shootings as normal.
• Quote:

  "Every time these shootings happen, there's a voices that come out to say we cannot say this is just how it's supposed to be. That's the biggest fear..." (Matthew McConaughey, 18:45)

• The importance of never quitting the pursuit of progress.

9. Gun Control and Political Hope

[20:19 - 22:02]

• McConaughey admits his practical hope for political change on guns is low, but sees hope on a personal, cultural level.
• He touches on the nuanced views within his own family and peer group and the complexity of American gun culture.
• Quote:

  "So I don't have a lot of practical hope that it will be a political. That's why I'm not talking politics in this thing. I think it's personal." (Matthew McConaughey, 21:49)

10. The Difference Between a Good Man and a Nice Guy

[22:02 - 22:47]

• Hoda reads a poem distinguishing a “good man” from a “nice guy”—a theme critical to McConaughey’s self-image.
• He shares how, although he loves acting, his self-worth is no longer tied to the craft.

11. On Acting, Teaching, and Family

[22:47 - 23:39]

• “Acting now... felt like vacation. I don’t need it like I used to for my own identity.” (Matthew McConaughey, 23:28)
• Teaching and writing have become new passions and challenges.

12. Lost Bus — A Family Affair

[24:01 - 29:53]

• McConaughey narrates his return to film with Lost Bus, based on true events from the Paradise, California fires, bringing in strong themes of duty and heroism.

• Working on set with his son Levi (who auditioned persistently for the role) and his own mother, he reflects on creative legacy and family.

  Notable Exchange:

  “He had already prepared himself for a scene... I said, it’s pretty good.” (Matthew McConaughey, 28:20) “We got three generations of Khand's. I'm gonna scene with them.” (Matthew McConaughey, 29:53)

13. The Essence of Prayer and Spiritual Practice

[30:01 - 30:44]

• Hoda highlights (by reading aloud) the central message about prayer in the book.
• Quote:

  “Prayer gives our soul a chance to catch up with our pathologically busy minds, providing us with the contentment of self awareness...” (Hoda Kotb, 30:26)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cynicism:

  "The cynicism, I think, is an early death." (Matthew McConaughey, 04:29)

• On humility:

  "Humility is admitting we have more to learn." (Matthew McConaughey, 05:27)

• On hope and action:

  "America's all about, no, no, no, we're not settling for that. We will keep churning and keep trying to get to that time that is yet and probably never arrive. But you don't quit singing your song." (Matthew McConaughey, 18:56)

• On stepping into life:

  "Create the character. What are you doing in life?" (Matthew McConaughey, 11:10)

• On prayer:

  “Prayer is paying attention... Prayer gives our soul a chance to catch up with our pathologically busy minds.” (Hoda Kotb, 30:26)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• On the world’s need for belief & cynicism: 03:30 – 04:36
• His journey with faith & humility: 04:36 – 06:29
• Processing overwhelm & information: 06:29 – 08:14
• Practicing gratitude: 08:50 – 10:26
• Public roles vs. self-authorship: 11:06 – 13:38
• Societal ethics and 'punk rock rage': 13:38 – 14:40
• Showing up/Uvalde shooting: 17:52 – 20:07
• Gun reform & hope: 20:19 – 22:02
• Good man vs. nice guy: 22:02 – 22:47
• On family & acting: 24:01 – 29:53

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Tone and Language

The episode is marked by a thoughtful, introspective, and sincere tone. McConaughey is candid, poetic, and philosophical, often turning questions into meditations on self-improvement, societal change, and spirituality. Hoda blends warmth, admiration, and curiosity, letting McConaughey’s words resonate.

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Conclusion

This episode is both a peek into Matthew McConaughey’s personal philosophy and a guide for listeners seeking depth, faith, and resilience in harried times. His reflections challenge us to stay hopeful, refuse cynicism, embrace personal responsibility, and deliberately “make space” for meaning—whether in daily gratitude, spiritual practice, or standing up for what matters.

Final thought: Pick up Poems and Prayers—as Hoda observes, you’ll probably dog-ear many pages, finding wisdom for today’s world.

Transcript

[Jeff Bridges]

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[Zoe]

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[Zoe]

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[Matthew McConaughey]

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[Hoda Kotb]

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[Matthew McConaughey]

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[Jeff Bridges]

So what are we having for lunch?

[Zoe]

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[Matthew McConaughey]

Mobile.Com when work gets crazy, I like to stop by the bar after have a few cold ones. I don't drink at all until 4 o'.

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[Hoda Kotb]

We limit ourselves to one bottle of wine a night.

[Public Service Announcement Narrator]

Excessive drinking has a way of sneaking up on us. A few drinks a few nights a week, it can add up and suddenly we're at greater risk for long term problems like heart disease, cancer and depression. Reason enough to rethink the Drink. [e-mail] Noha Initiative.

[Hoda Kotb]

What if you had the world's attention but found yourself longing for something deeper? Well, my guest today has been in that very position. From his charming roles in the Wedding Planner and How to Lose a guy in 10 days to his Oscar winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club. Audiences have fallen in Love with Matthew McConaughey for more than two decades. After years of falling in love on screen, he found a love story of his own with his beautiful wife, Camilla. Together they have built a life with three incredible children, a dream he's had since he was young. Yet even with fame and a family he treasures, he felt a pull beyond acting. He stepped back to direct, to teach and spark a change, advocating for gun safety legislation at the White House in 2022, which Congress passed shortly after his visit. But for Matthew, speaking out is not enough. Writing has become his way to carry conversations further and inspire others to Broaden their perspectives. To mark the release of his latest book, Poems and Prayers, Matthew joins me to share his passion for writing, how his outlook on life has evolved, and his hopes for the future. I'm Hoda Kotb. Welcome to my podcast, Making Space. Hi, Matthew. How are you?

[Matthew McConaughey]

I'm good. Happy to be here with you.

[Hoda Kotb]

So happy to have your book in my hand. It's called Poems and Prayers. Yes, ma'.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Am.

[Hoda Kotb]

They say, like, life's about timing, and sometimes the right book comes out at the wrong time or however it works. This one, to me, is like, the perfect fit. When I was holding it and reading it, I thought, this is meant for this moment right now. This is why this book is needed.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Well, I don't think I'm alone and feeling like belief is in short supply or that things to believe in in the world are in short supply or at least confusing. And I think that's why I wrote it. I found myself looking around going, oh, I'm not seeing what. I'm listening to the news I'm meeting, seeing how people treat each other. And I'm going, I'm not seeing things believe in. I'm not even seeing reasons to believe. And I started to get a little cynical myself. Yeah. Looking down my nose, objectifying people, thinking like, I. You know, for no reason, that people were giving me, just kind of going, well, I'm not going to believe in the best of them because they're probably going to let me down. They'll fail. They'll screw this up. They'll lie, they'll cheat, they'll steal. And that first scared me, and then it pissed me off. And I was like, no, Because I swore to myself years ago, decades ago, man, that don't become the cynic. We're born innocent. We become maybe naive. We get educated, we get knowledgeable, we get skeptical. Good. But let's stop there, because the cynicism, I think, is an early death.

[Hoda Kotb]

I feel like some of these are just conversations that you're having with God. And some of them, they feel very intimate. They feel very inside. Was just to back up a little bit. Was faith something that you leaned on throughout your life? I mean, usually it's when you lose a parent or something terrible happens, you go there.

[Matthew McConaughey]

It's. I've leaned on it in the hard times. Later on in life, I learned to lean on it in the good times.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Matthew McConaughey]

With great success, I needed faith to give me humility at times. And then slowly and still, I'm learning how to have that humility but still not lose confidence because I had a bad relationship with humility. I for a while I thought it meant like let your shoulders come over until I heard the definition. Humility is admitting we have more to learn. I heard that definition.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh wait, wait, back up. That's a good one.

[Matthew McConaughey]

We have more to learn. Isn't that.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's so much better.

[Matthew McConaughey]

I had still up, my heart's still high. I'm still confident going forward, but humble and to sift through with some success I've had. What's the BS from what's real, what's worth giving credence to and what's worth going. Don't. Don't give that too much credit. I've also had my agnostic years where I did not believe where I fully said it's on you Matthew. Self reliance is king and it's key and that's what you got to be. Put your hands on the wheel. You're responsible. That's it. I came back to God and what I did. I did hear him applauding, going, thank you for the courage to say it's on you. I need more people not just relying on fate. I need more people going, it's about fate, but it's also about free will. It's about faith, but it's also about responsibility and having your hands on the wheel. And so I was able to laugh at that. And of course, you know, if you're a believer and you have faith in God, always there waiting on the other side of the door whenever you're ready to come back.

[Hoda Kotb]

I like there's Let me see if I am opening up to the right one. Hang on. I dog eared a bunch of them and anyone who's getting this book will be doing the same. Ah, here's it. Dear God, seems my sight's getting in the way of your sound. So many signs you left me and I never found when everything's significant that there's no significance at all. I'm down on all fours with nowhere to fall. This goes on. It is so beautiful. But this is what are we talking about here?

[Matthew McConaughey]

So much information stimulus in our world. Again, we were talking earlier. What do we believe in? There's so much knowledge per se. There's so many facts. Yes, too many. You start to wonder, well, what's the truth? And all that is more of this knowledge making me smarter, wiser, less stressed? No, it's making me more stressed, more confused. I'm not sure what's virtual from reality. What's False from what's true. And if you give everything significant, if you make every little thing significant, there's really no significance at all. It goes back to that skepticism being discerning. There's certain things you have to go, I'm not given a crisis. If you give every crisis credit, yeah, you're going to wallow in the drama of the red lights of your life. There's certain crisis you got to go, I'm not giving that credit. I'm not going to give that any significance. It doesn't deserve my time. But to weed through that in life is tough. Like in the street information age. Well, we don't. Where do we go? Yeah, for those facts, what is our newscaster? What is our editorial that we go? This is the one I want to believe. And maybe not just the one that agrees with my personal politics, but the one I want to believe is the facts. Very hard to find. So this is at a time, that poem in particular is at a time when many times in my life when I'm like, I'm getting more knowledge, but I feel more confused.

[Hoda Kotb]

I feel like sometimes everybody's screaming and nobody's quiet enough to think for a second to even think what they believe. When you're watching yelling matches night and day and that's what you consume. I was thinking about that even myself. When was the last time I was quiet enough to ask myself, really ask myself, like, I only have so much grief that I can give to different crises in the world. We have a certain limit. We can't keep giving it to every single thing. So how do you keep your tank full on days when you are like, holy moly, I got nothing else here.

[Matthew McConaughey]

I usually start with baseline gratitudes, which I was raised on and went became more than just a sticker on my mom's refrigerator, but became ingrained just the basis of, hey, the sun rose this morning. You woke up. Don't you dare think that was guaranteed. Now let's look around. Was that my kids out here in the other room? Ah, my wife just brought me. I came down, said she made me tea, and she already left. I don't know. That was guaranteed. So I start to look at those when I feel too much pressure of having to accomplish or not seeing, you know, beauty in the day or. Or feeling the freedom that I want to feel. I also have to remind myself, this, this is going to pass. Sometimes it's personal. Sometimes I, you know, I had a night full of nightmares night before I got to get out of the funk. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's my pov. Maybe it's the tune I'm list listening to. I gotta. I gotta get upside down and backwards and turn everything inside out and start over again. Go back to the damn room, get back in bed and get out again. Sometimes do what we do. Yeah, but when it's the outside world and looking at it and you're going, man, I'm not seeing things to believe in. I'm not seeing a track that I'm looking forward to, which I think the best definition of happiness that I can tell is having something look forward to. Just a reason to get out of bed of something. Like, you know what? I can go. I'm gonna go build this thing. Yeah. And this thing that I'm building today, hopefully it's connected to our past and hopefully it's something we want to build towards our future. That seems to be the baseline of what most of us find, some sense of satisfaction within our day.

[Hoda Kotb]

I feel like you're building something that's different. I mean, I've interviewed you a few times, and each time I feel like you're inching closer to something else. Like you came on when you had your other book on. Obviously we talked a lot about that green light. Then we talked about, are you gonna run for office? And you're like knocking, I'm not sure. And then you're back. You have this book which is touching the soul of. I mean, acting now. I mean, look, I consider you a world class actor and I love all your films and I can't wait to talk about this next one. But I feel like you're turning. Like something's happening. Like you're going somewhere else. Like, where are you going?

[Matthew McConaughey]

Okay, so part of the writing of Greenlights, part of the writing of this. I don't mean to be glib about this, but it's me going, hey, instead of playing a character that someone else wrote in their script, someone else is directing, that someone else is lensing in the camera, that someone else is editing who create the character. Create the character. What are you doing in life? In the big show that we're all in, where action was called the day we were born and cut to be called the day we leave this life. What's going on in the documentary, the live show, that is your life, that's being recorded by the hands of time. What are you doing? That's what I've asked myself and been asking myself. That's what's woke me up in the middle of the night. I have to watch it. It becomes a very conscientious. Especially when thinking about politics. You come. It's a very. It's a wonderful exercise to ask yourself what would you do if you were the leader, a CEO of the state or a nation and you were a leader of that amount of people? You have to check in on your own values and say are those scalable? Do those hold towards personal belief? To me can that scale can it be something that could be the best for the most amount of people? And to test that is a fun but hard thing to do. Very conscientious can become academic. Reason I wrote this is because that arena then you start battling issues, contradictions and it's sometimes it's not a fair fight. Well, I wanted to go above that and go well what is in a way, God progress. That's not politics. God progress or belief is even progress that is above anything blue or red. It's above and in between and encompasses both. Now we still need as a people individually and collectively, as a society, humanity. We need at least some sort of unsaid constitution that we can have expectations of each other for. And right now those expectations are warmly. They're hazy to us. We're not sure what the rules of engagement are. We're awarded light sheet still. I don't care. You won. Boom. You get the prize. Whoa, wait a minute. What do you mean you get the prize? I thought there were rules of engagement. Yeah. Pot of gold. Yep. What are the ethics of the situation? I don't know what the winner do. Well, yeah, but they, they move the goal post to win the game. I don't care. They won. Oh geez. Oh yeah. And by the way, if you do follow the rules. Sucker. Whoa. Yeah. I don't think any of us are ready to go. Yeah. So that's how it is. Yeah. No, and we shouldn't be ready to go now when we're going to have to fight this thing. And it's not going to be. I don't think kumbaya. I think it's going to be punk rock rage. Do you? Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

What do you mean by that?

[Matthew McConaughey]

It's going to be a. It's going to take a bit of a rebellion. Yeah. These ideas of belief are not old dusty, traditional gray haired on a pulpit now you oughta. No, it's not mandates, it's not administration. It's choice. And there's dignity and ownership and power individually in choice. My hunch is that yes, we need to pivot sometimes. Maybe we. Some divorces are good for couples. Sometimes you switch jobs and it's, it's a good idea. But my hunch is that we could use a little more, one more step of effort before we pull the parachute and quit on things that we value in our life and that that would be overall and individually something that would be really healthy for us.

[Hoda Kotb]

I love the poem that speaks to that very thing that you were just saying. And it's like you step in, step into your relationship, step in, stand into the conflict is what you're bas. Basically, you're wanting people not to run away from it or silo up, but get in there.

[Matthew McConaughey]

And I think the first thing that we have to understand is let's admit that that's part of everyday life. That's we come up with great grand plans and when our day does go just how we wanted it to and we're in the flow, we tend to think, ah, ta da, I found it. This is my frequency forever. Guess what? No, it's not. Now you're either going to trip yourself running downhill and create a crisis, or the world's going to create it for you and you're going to have to adapt. But to say, understand that those times, the crisis is the hard things, when we lean into a resistance to overcome it because we need something more on the other side of it. That's part of the rhyme of our life, daily life, that to admit that that's the reality can help us get through those hard times a lot more.

[Hoda Kotb]

More with Matthew McConaughey after the break.

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[Hoda Kotb]

One of the things about you is you show up first and foremost. You just show up. You show up with this book. You showed up at Uvalde. You are somebody who like stands in it.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Try to what were you hoping?

[Hoda Kotb]

Because I think about Uvalde, it's like you feel like a knife here. What were you hoping to accomplish? Were you able to accomplish something? And what do you see down the road when it comes to something like that?

[Matthew McConaughey]

Look, I went there, Kun and I drove down there initially to the hometown where I was born, just to try and listen, be there, be a shoulder and ear where we could. Didn't go down there with an agenda, didn't go down there with the proclamation. Didn't go down there with a sermon. Just went to go listen and see where it naturally took us. Afterwards, you know, went to D.C. and got to speak in the press conference. I just wanted to like, let's call it. Let's call it what it is and everyone and maybe just help. You know, every time these, these shootings happen, there's a voices that come out to say we cannot say this is just how it's supposed to be. That's the biggest fear and I even hear that now. And isn't that quitting for us society to go? It's just kind of how it is. We, I think sometimes we think we're more evolved than we like to think we are. But that doesn't mean, and especially in America in general America is the idea that we're always chasing, yet we cannot settle to go, oh, this is how things are. We may never get there on equality or justice. And all these Things, but that's what America is. You don't ever go, well, it's just how it is. America's all about, no, no, no, we're not selling for that. We will keep churning and keep trying to get to that time that is yet and probably never arrive. But you don't quit singing your song. We don't quit singing our song and go, yeah, I guess it's just how it is. And that's the quitting I'm talking about. That we don't, we can't suffer from. That's the doubt. Winning that we can't fall to. The doubt does win and we start to concede too often we're all going to lose.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, it's over.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Do you think, I mean, do you have hope in that department?

[Matthew McConaughey]

Not a lot. In the department of like guns and shooting? Yeah. No, practically no. I understand the argument for, for the regulations. I understand the argument for that's my right. There's a concession in. At the same time, I've got a lot of those hard right camouflage gun toting friends and there are a lot of room in my family and it's not them I'm worried about. But ain't when I talk to them, they would all say, I'll turn in my automatic that I only use to shoot out of a helicopter at hogs if it's gonna, if we get rid of all of them and we can stop some, some of these mass shootings. They all say that when you got them at midnight around a fire for a couple of beers, admitting it, they all go, yeah. I mean it ain't that big of a deal. I'll turn it in. Now some people are going to hear that and go, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is about it. The government comes, tyrannical government. I've got to defend myself. I don't know. I understand that point of view. My hunch is that if that happens, it's not going to be a personal weapon that's going to defend you. And then I understand the argument. Yeah, more would be on the black market. It could be worse. So now we got to defend ourselves. I don't know what the clear understanding is when, when you especially have two sides before they even think about it or listening to the other side just going, well, I'm gonna vote down my party line because my party does that. So I don't have a lot of practical hope that it will be a political. That's why I'm not talking politics in this thing. I think it's personal.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah. But I think what's clear about this book is that this book is actually full of all kinds of hope. And what I like. You have one little stanza here. It's called Good Man. There's a difference between a good man and a nice guy. A good man stands for certain ideals, and when those beliefs are contested, a good man is not a nice guy.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Not a nice guy.

[Hoda Kotb]

You talked about how in all the rom coms you were in, people are like, what a nice guy. What a nice guy. What a nice guy. You didn't love that tag, even though it was fine. It was fine, but it wasn't it. It didn't like. You really are kind of a person of values, and I find it interesting that you took off working for a handful of years so that you could teach. I feel like you like acting a lot, but I don't feel like you're. You need it. I feel like you enjoy it.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. Look, I went back and acted and like I did in this film, Lost Bus, and another film Rivals with m'sai, and I was reminded how much I enjoy it. It was actually like a vacation because it was a singular focus. I love it. You know, and that was like, oh, wow, this is great. I can focus on one thing for three full months. I have such reverence for this craft. That's all I gotta do. That was wonderful. At the same time, I don't need it like I used to for my own identity. I still want to challenge. I'm. Like I said, I'm interested in challenge myself going, what script are you writing? Yeah. In this show, this live. Yeah. What are you doing? Who are you playing? Who are you? That scares me in the right way. Yeah. And challenges me in the right way. And I want to continue to put myself to the test on that. At the same time, like I said, going to act in a role felt like vacation.

[Hoda Kotb]

Loved it. More with Matthew McConaughey when we come back. Can we talk about Lost Bus, by the way?

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah, please.

[Hoda Kotb]

How cool. First of all, I saw the clips that have been out there running, and will you just tell me about this? Number one, I love that your sons and I love that your mom has a moment in it and you're. I mean, this is an intense role for you. From what I've seen. Tell us a little bit about it.

[Matthew McConaughey]

So spaced on. True story. In 2018, there were these fires in Paradise, California, and it was the deadliest fire in California, I think. 85 deceased. The personal story we tell and there were many people who acted extremely heroically on that day. The story we tell is about this, this man who had come back home to paradise because his dad had just died. He needed to take care of his widowed mom, his mom was now widow, and reconcile a relationship with his son from a previous marriage. He also takes up part time job as a school bus driver. And on this particular day he took kids to school and was supposed to go after school to go get the bus repaired. The fires were coming, but it wasn't a big deal. They always come, they'll put them out. All the first responders had gone over across the canyon to put the fires out only to find that this particular fire jumped the canyon and was now bearing down on Paradise. So at a time when the first responders are returning to town to get into town, a mandatory evacuation was called. So you got all this outbound traffic, your first responders trying to get in. Now it's a mandatory evacuation. This bus driver turns around to ask home to go get his mom and his son who can't drive and on the way gets a call through Dispatch. I got 23 kids stranded on the east side of town. Does anyone have an empty bus? Well, guess who's got an empty bus? You do? What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? Do you go get mom and son or do you take the right and go get the kiddos? He chose to go get the kids. Wow. Where he picked them up. And also America Ferreira's character teacher.

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[Hoda Kotb]

Up to $800.

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[Matthew McConaughey]

Prices and participation may vary. Mary Ludwig. It's on the bus with those kids and it's about that day. How do they get out? And communications were down. All the cell phone towers are down. Dispatch was done. So this. They had. They had no communication to see if mom and son were even okay. So. Wow. It's a frightening horror movie in one sense. Yeah. It's a big, huge action. I think the best fire movie I've seen for sure. And at the center of it, you've got a human drama. Wow. With two people.

[Hoda Kotb]

That sounds, by the way, I mean, it sounds like a must see. Tell me about your son being in it and what that was like for you as a dad.

[Matthew McConaughey]

So I didn't know my son Levi was interested in front of the camera. I'd never pushed him forward to it or never said, don't ever do it. I just. He's been around it. He was always working on set. Like in this particular case, he was already working in the camera department on set. And as I always pitched the story I'm going to do to my family, I did this one. He's like, wow, it's the sun.

[Hoda Kotb]

How old's the son?

[Matthew McConaughey]

About 15 years. He goes, has it been cashier? I said, no. He goes, can I read for it? And I was like, huh? I kind of ignored him. Next day he comes back, can I read for it? I said, oh, really? Next day he comes back, can I just read for a minute? Fourth time he comes back, I said, okay, now you're hustling. All you want to do is let's have a seat. Now let me just tell you, this ain't no show up with attitude thing. This acting gig is a rodeo, man. You gotta have soul and go forward with no in your bones. Yeah, yeah. So this ain't no modeling gig, but this is. This is how it goes. He goes, okay, I understand. So you want to read. He had already prepared himself for a scene. Oh, he was ready. In the script, I pull out the camera mobile device, record him. I'm like, all right. It's pretty good. Pretty good. Holding the camera, he's able to behave honestly. All right. I sent it to the casting director and with a note. And I said, I. It's my son for the part and I think it might be good enough for a callback. She writes back and says, I think it's good enough to send to the director. I said, okay, that's good news. But do me a favor. You send it to the director. When you do, pull his last name off, please. Oh, I don't want it to proceed him. I don't want him. If he happened to get the job, I don't want him. Ever think, oh, my dad. Yeah, yeah, right. So she sent it to the director. The director saw and said, that's the kid. And then the casting director said, well, that happens to be Matthew's son. And Mr. Greengrass goes even better.

[Hoda Kotb]

So. Wow.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

How did that change the dynamic for you while you were there?

[Matthew McConaughey]

The excitement? Yeah. Of wow. I'm gonna be in a scene with my son playing my son. Meanwhile, Paul cast my mom as my mom.

[Hoda Kotb]

This is hilarious.

[Matthew McConaughey]

We got three generations of Khand's. I'm gonna scene with them.

[Hoda Kotb]

I just want to encourage people to pick this book up. It's called Poems and Prayers. It's got some. I've dog eared so many portions of this book because it just. Here's one. Prayer is paying attention. In a world that constantly consumes our thoughts but distracts us from tending to our spirit, prayer gives our soul a chance to catch up with our pathologically busy minds, providing us with the contentment of self awareness that gives us enough hope to admit we actually do have the ability to live our life. This book is full of great pieces of knowledge. It'll make you feel so good. It'll bring a lot of people back, I think, to prayer. If you've forgotten about it, it's got it all. Matthew, thank you so much after you.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Came to see me.

[Hoda Kotb]

Thank you.

[Matthew McConaughey]

Thank you.

[Hoda Kotb]

Hey guys, thank you so much for listening and for coming on this journey with me. If you like what you heard, and I hope that you do, please give Making Space a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts and make sure you tell your friends. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. Making Space with Hoda Kotb is produced by Allison Berger and Mitch Rissmiller, along with Kate Saunders, our associate authority. Our audio engineer is Juliana Masterilli. Original music by John Estes. Bryson Barnes is our head of audio production. Missy Dunlop Parsons is our executive producer. Libby Leist is the executive Vice president of Today and Lifestyle. I'm Hoda Kotb from Making Space. Okay. You and I are both on the other side of the jump, whether it is life after the White House or in my case, life after the Today Show. So what has this new chapter taught you about starting something new at any stage, about being a beginner again.

[Michelle Obama]

You're never finished evolving. I don't want to overuse the title of my book memoir, but we are always becoming and and we have an endless number of chapters in our lives if we choose to embrace that truth. I would have never thought when I was a little kid growing up that I would be more than one thing, because that's what we were taught when we were little. We were asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? As if there's an answer to that. As if you become something. And that's that. And maybe that was true in our grandparents time or the times before that, but today, you know, so many of us have the opportunity to become many things in life. And I would encourage all your listeners to embrace those transitions, to practice them. It's a muscle. And not to run away from change, but to embrace it as much as possible and turn that into something really simple, special. There's a lot of learning that happens on the other side of our fear of change, and I'm living proof of that.

[Matthew McConaughey]

You know, nothing keeps me sharper these days as somebody who's getting up there in years, than doing something completely new and foreign. And with Misha and I doing imo, it gives the me particularly an opportunity to do something that is completely outside of my wheelhouse of experience that I've.

[Michelle Obama]

Had before now, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. Subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Matthew McConaughey]

Prices and participation may vary.