Matthew McConaughey on Playing Real-Life Camp Fire Hero in ’The Lost Bus’ (Exclusive)

Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera chatted with “Extra’s” Terri Seymour about “The Lost Bus.”

The white-knuckle ride is inspired by the real-life events of the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California and the heroic actions of school bus driver Kevin McKay (McConaughey) and teacher Mary Ludwig (Ferrera) who battled to save 22 children from the inferno.

Matthew shared the three reasons why he was drawn to the story, saying, “One, that it happened, it was based on real events, which gives any actor a little more purpose and reverence. Two, there was Paul Greengrass. I'm a fan of his films and I was like, ‘Oh, this is a guy who can really capture the epic nature of this and maybe have a point of view from the fire as a predator in a way that no one else has really done it on screen.’ And then three… he's a director who's going to give room for the actors to have a deeply personal human story in the middle of that." 

Reflecting on the chaos of the fire and Kevin’s actions that day, Matthew said, “The rule book is thrown out the window. Everyone's off on their own trying to survive. There's chaos everywhere. When did he realize it was worse than it was? There were certain times I think… Kevin realized that actually this is not organized. This evacuation plan's not going to work and I'm going to have to go rogue… he realized that earlier than some people might.”

America also talked about working with Paul, sharing, “When the cameras rolled, we just had so much permission and freedom. And really the assignment from Paul was to just be in the moment, respond to what's happening and every take was different and every take we discovered something new and the way Paul shoots is so dynamic and alive.”

She confessed it felt “strange and really confusing to me at first,” but ultimately she “began to really feel at home in my character.”

Ferrera went on, “The  takeaway for me in the film is about getting a chance to live your life the way that you would want to live it if you got another chance and I think that's a very personal call to action, but it's also, I think, a communal call to action, looking at our lives truthfully and honestly and then making a decision about how we want to be living them.”