Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey: Actors have to live with rejection
Matthew McConaughey has shared some career advice with his teenage son.
Matthew McConaughey has learned to live with "rejection" in his acting career.
The 56-year-old movie star has offered some career advice to his 18-year-old son, Levi, who is following his footsteps in Hollywood.
Speaking to E! News, Matthew reflected: "You’ve got to be able to deal with rejection, that’s part of it.
"You’ve got to hopefully love doing it and love the process so much that enough ‘nos’ don’t matter. If not, it’s not for you, because I was taught, there’s no ‘help wanted’ signs in Hollywood."
Matthew - who also has Vida, 16, and Livingston, 13, with his wife Camila - observed that it takes "troubadours and rebels" to make it in the movie business.
He explained: "I just try to push, to say, ‘It’s better to make a fool of yourself and find out’ then to leave an audition and go, ‘Oh I had that moment and I hesitated'.
"Make a fool of yourself. Fail more. Try and fail more. No one gives as much of a damn as you think they do."
Despite this, Matthew wants his son to forge his own path in life, rather than simply following in his footsteps.
The actor said: "I don’t know if it’s something he’s going to want to pursue as a career. But as we’ve done what we’ve always done, Camila and I will do our best to open doors and then after that it’s up to our kids to do what they do with it."
Matthew previously starred alongside his teenage son in The Lost Bus, the 2025 survival drama film, and he admitted to feeling particularly proud of Levi.
Speaking on the Today show, Matthew shared: "There was an extra, sort of soul to it for me.
"It felt very professional doing it with him, though. 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.'"
