Matthew McConaughey Used Parenting Test to See If Son Levi Was Serious About Acting (Exclusive)

When it comes to parenting, Matthew McConaughey embraces a patient approach.

The actor and dad of three with wife Camila Alves McConaughey had a measured response when his eldest, Levi, 17, approached him about auditioning for a supporting role in his new AppleTV+ film The Lost Bus.

“I always pitch what story I’m doing, what the movie’s about [to my family],” says McConaughey, 55, who sits down with Levi, 17, and mom Kay, 93, in this week’s PEOPLE 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?’ ” says Levi. “And you were like, ‘Yeah.'”

“And then I didn’t bring it up again,” says McConaughey with a smile. “I had to badger him,” recalls Levi.

The Oscar winner held back, curious how invested his son was in the opportunity. Levi “came back three more times after that to go, “Well, can I read for it?” recalls Matthew as Levi grins. “And I wanted to test and see how much you wanted to read for this thing, right?”

Given Levi’s persistence, Matthew, who also shares two other children, daughter Vida, 15, and son Livingston, 12, with wife Camila, ultimately “pulled out the camera” to shoot Levi’s audition tape. “We shot a couple takes and I was like, okay, guy can hold a frame,” the Interstellar star says.

Before sharing the tape with production, McConaughey asked the casting director to withhold sending Levi’s last name as a test of merit. Levi nailed the audition, and later in production, Kay (who previously had a cameo in 2011’s Bernie) joined The Lost Bus in a small role as Matthew’s onscreen mom, too.

When they yelled “action!” on set, “the preparation is what I was most proud of,” says Levi, though “it was a tough scene to do with my dad because we’re fighting [on screen] and we have a good enough relationship where that’s luckily not how it is in real life.”

Next, Levi will appear in Way of the Warrior Kid opposite Chris Pratt, but college is also on his mind. Right now, he’s taking his burgeoning career one role at a time. 

“This role wasn’t me going ‘Oh, I’m going to become an actor,’ “ says Levi. “It was me saying, ‘I’m really interested in this.’ ”

And as his son navigates stepping into the spotlight, McConaughey says he’s tried to impart some tips he’s learned along the way.

“It’s a tough business to figure out who the hell you are in real life for the first time, at a time when that’s what every kid his age is doing, trying to figure out who they are — in this business or not,” says McConaughey. “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 Lost Bus streams on Apple TV+ on Oct. 3.

For more on the McConaughey family, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now, or subscribe here.