Even Oscar winners have to set boundaries with their moms. Matthew McConaughey recently revealed that he put some serious distance between himself and his mother, Kay McConaughey, after realizing she couldn’t keep their private conversations off the record.
The actor opened up about the nearly decade-long “hiatus” during a new interview with People, where he appeared alongside Kay, now 93, and his 17-year-old son, Levi.
Matthew McConaughey Explains the Family “Hiatus”
The trio sat down with the magazine to promote their upcoming Apple TV+ film “The Lost Bus,” out October 3. The movie marks Kay’s first return to the screen since her cameo in the 2011 film “Bernie,” and Levi’s official film debut. “It’s gone generations,” Levi said, recalling his grandmother’s excitement about the family project.
But the family hasn’t always been this close. Matthew admitted that, for almost eight years, he and Kay kept their conversations short and sweet — emphasis on short. “We had about an eight-year period where I had to have short conversations with her on our Sunday phone calls because she was sharing a lot of that information,” he told said.
“I’d tell her something on Sunday between son and mom, and Tuesday I’d read about it in the news or see it in the local paper. She couldn’t help herself.”
Kay didn’t deny it, simply saying, “We were on a hiatus.” Matthew explained that the turning point came when he changed his outlook, not her behavior. “I finally got stable enough with my own position and fame that I was like, ‘You know what? My mom can say whatever the hell she wants.’”
Kay also gave a glimpse into her parenting style, joking, “You don’t want to have to tell me twice.” Matthew quipped back, “Bingo. That’s it,” with Kay adding, “I was strict but loving.”
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