Movie thriller The Lost Bus, interview with actor Matthew McConaughey

How did you approach the various action sequences in the film?

"It wasn't as tricky as you think, because Paul, our director, is so damn organized. So you'd show up in the morning, 9:00, and you'd start to rehearse, like those big action sequences. We'd break them down into big chunks. And I'd walk everything about where the bus would go, when the fires would come up, when the telephone pole would fall, when the power lines would swing in, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I'd walk it a couple of times. And then I'd go get in the bus, I'd drive it at like five miles an hour, very slowly, calling out the marks. And then we'd try to do one up to speed, and then do one a little bit faster, then take a break, get ready. You got two hours, and at a certain time of day, you go, 'Okay, and now, bam, we're off.' And for this hour, the camera's going to roll the entire time. Let's do the sequence. Maybe you get two takes, maybe you get three. And it had to fit, you had to get it right then. But the choreography that we did all day and the team that we had, it honestly didn't feel as tricky as it looks like it does. 

Your son and your mother play the same role in the film. How was that?

I never even thought of it being like something that I hoped for. But then, as soon as my son asked if he could read for the role of my son, and I said, 'Yeah.' Hey, bud. That guy saw his audition without his last name on it and said, 'This is the good.' And then he turned out to be my son, he goes, 'Even better.' And then he wanted to cast my mother as my mom. And I said, 'Wait, you want to see her on tape first.' And so I asked my mom, I said, 'Mom, send me a video, a one-minute video of why you love to be a mother.' She sent me an eight-minute video. I showed it to him and he goes, 'That's it.' So he cast her, cast my son, and there we were in scenes together for a few days. It was uh, it's something that'll be cooler and cooler as time goes by, because that'll outlive us. It's good. Yeah.

There is a very touching scene where you hug your son.

Oh, afterwards, the hug that I have with my son, because the scene in the movie, he does not like me at all and is raging at me with great hate. And, uh, afterwards, it was a good long hug to have, sort of unsaid, we were both kind of saying without saying a word, 'I'm glad that's not our relationship in real life.'

Yeah, well, it's about, you know, fathers and sons and don't be late as a dad, don't be late as a parent for your kids, you know? Um, the whole film has a lot to do with don't be late. And do you get second chances? And if you do, don't punt them down the road so far because that window may close and you may not have it. Um, so that's, uh, that's the nightmare, the situation that I'm put in and a lot of people in this movie are put in that situation where it's too late. Or is it? Yeah, find out."