Matthew McConaughey has marked a major milestone in his family life, paying tribute to his son Levi as he turned 18 on Tuesday, July 7.
The Dallas Buyers Club actor, 56, shared a photo on Instagram of himself and Levi standing together in a grassy area in Austin, Texas, both wearing matching button-down shirts and flashing the “Hook ’em Horns” hand sign, a nod to the University of Texas, where McConaughey himself attended college.
His caption was short but warm: “18. It’s a # friend. Enjoy and handle your new freedoms. @levimcconaughey.”
McConaughey shares Levi, Livingston, 13, and daughter Vida, 16, with wife Camila Alves McConaughey, 43.
Fatherhood is clearly something he thinks deeply about.
In an April episode of Bear Gryll’s Running Wildhe spoke at length about what becoming a husband and father has meant to him, telling host Bear Grylls that he sees being a good parent as the best thing a man can do.
“I think a man is a prince until he has children, then he becomes a king. I don’t think there is anything more important a man can do,” he said.
“Man, we’re mortal. It’s the beginning of our immortality, and hopefully we’re lucky enough to have offspring and it continues to pass it on. I think that’s the greatest art a man can do is to be a good father to a son or a daughter.”
He has also spoken about how parenthood has shaped his approach to his work.
speaks to PEOPLE in April 2024, he said that having children “made me a better actor”, in part because explaining adult-themed projects to his children required him to become a more inventive storyteller.
“I had to become a better storyteller to tell my kids about a good guy, a bad guy and a monster,” he said.
Regarding his parenting style, he has previously described himself as the more permissive of the two parents, the “yes guy”, while acknowledging that true love sometimes means the harder option.
“Sometimes loving your kids means giving them just what they want. Other times it means tough love,” he shared City & Country in 2020.
“Loving a child is much harder if you really don’t care.”
Levi, meanwhile, is now officially an adult. His father’s advice: enjoy it and take it well.
