0:00

Hi everybody. This

0:07

short segment is what we call For the Good

0:09

of the Order. It's something we used to do

0:11

at the end of my sorority meetings, if you

0:13

can believe that, where someone

0:15

would share something that they came across in

0:17

the course of the week, a poem, a

0:20

song lyric, a short story that

0:22

they found enormously helpful as they

0:24

went about daily life. I

0:27

wanted to pick up the thread because I am

0:29

so often wowed by something I see in the

0:31

world that I want to bring back and hand

0:33

off to you. So every

0:35

Friday we produce a short segment

0:37

called For the Good of the Order. Think of

0:40

it like an audio greeting card, a

0:42

thing to share with the people that you love

0:44

around the country who you don't get to see

0:46

or talk to enough, a thing

0:48

to discuss with the people you do see

0:50

and talk to on a more regular basis.

0:53

This is Kelli Corrigan Wonders, For

0:55

the Good of the Order. This

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1:52

This week's go-to is a little different.

1:54

I had the honor of

1:56

interviewing Matthew McConaughey down

1:58

in Bentonville, Arkansas. as

2:00

part of something called the Heartland Summit, which

2:03

is a Walton family project drawing

2:06

attention and resources to the states

2:08

in the Heartland. Matthew

2:10

was there to talk about a project that

2:12

he and his wife Camilla have been working

2:14

on since the May 2022 shooting

2:17

in Yuvaldi, Texas. I'm sure you

2:19

remember it. A former student

2:21

at the school fatally shot 19 students

2:24

and two teachers. 17

2:26

others were injured but survived. We're

2:29

gonna start this week's go-to with

2:31

a clip from Matthew's speech at

2:33

the White House shortly after that shooting.

2:36

And then we'll join the conversation Matthew

2:38

and I had on stage about his

2:41

work in the wake of that shooting

2:43

and also of course about movies. Camilla

2:49

and I came here to share

2:51

my stories from

2:53

my hometown of Yuvaldi. Came

2:55

here to take meetings with elected officials on

2:57

both sides of the aisle. We came here

3:00

to speak to them, to speak with them

3:02

and to urge them to speak with each

3:04

other. To remind and

3:06

inspire them that the American people will continue

3:08

to drive forward the mission of keeping our

3:10

children safe because it's more than

3:12

our right to do so. It's

3:15

our responsibility to do so.

3:19

I'm here today in the hopes of

3:21

applying what energy, reason and passion that I have into

3:24

trying to turn this moment into a reality. Because

3:27

as I said, this moment is

3:29

different. We are in a window of opportunity right

3:32

now that we have not been in

3:34

before. A window where it

3:36

seems like real change. Real change can't

3:38

happen. We have

3:40

Matt, Anna and

3:43

Vanilla, the mom and the stepdad of nine year

3:45

old, Maite Rodriguez.

3:49

And Maite wanted to be a marine

3:51

biologist. She was already

3:53

in contact with Corpus Christi University at

3:55

A&M for her future college enrollment. I'm

3:59

your daughter. Maite cared

4:01

for the environment so strongly that when the

4:03

city asked her mother if they could release

4:05

some balloons into the sky in

4:07

her memory her mom said oh no, Maite

4:10

wouldn't want to litter. Maite

4:15

wore green high-top

4:17

converse with a heart

4:20

she had hand-drawn on the right toe

4:22

because they represented her love

4:25

of nature. Camilla's got these shoes, can you show

4:27

these shoes please? Wear these

4:29

every day. Green converse with

4:31

a heart on the right toe. These

4:36

are the same green converse on

4:39

her feet that turned out to be the

4:41

only clear evidence that could identify her after

4:43

the shooting. We

4:46

also met a cosmetologist. She

4:48

was well versed in mortuary

4:51

makeup. That's the task

4:53

of making the victims appear as peaceful and natural

4:55

as possible for their open

4:57

casket viewings. These

5:00

bodies were very different. They

5:04

needed much more than makeup to be

5:06

presentable. They

5:08

needed extensive restoration. Why?

5:11

Due to the

5:14

exceptionally large exit wounds of

5:17

an AR-15 rifle. Most

5:21

of the body so mutilated

5:23

that only DNA tests or

5:27

green converse could

5:30

identify. Many

5:33

children were left not only dead but hollow. You

5:38

know what? Every one of these parents

5:40

wanted what they asked us for. But

5:42

every parent separately expressed in their own way

5:44

to Camilla and me that

5:48

they want their children's dreams

5:51

to live on. That they

5:53

want their children's dreams to continue

5:56

to accomplish something after they are

5:59

gone. They want to

6:01

make their loss of

6:03

life matter. But

6:07

this should be a Non-partisan

6:10

issue this should not be

6:12

a partisan issue There is not a

6:14

Democratic or Republican value in one single

6:16

act of these shooters do not That

6:20

people in power Have

6:22

failed to act so we're asking you and

6:26

I'm asking you will you

6:28

please ask yourselves? Can both sides

6:30

rise above? Can both

6:33

sides see beyond the political problem

6:35

at hand and admit that we

6:37

have a life preservation problem on

6:39

our hands? So

6:41

we got a chance right now to

6:44

reach for and to grasp a

6:46

higher ground above our political Affiliations

6:49

a chance to make a choice that does more

6:51

than protect your party A

6:53

chance to make a choice that protects our

6:55

country now and for the next generation Hi

7:03

Matthew, how are you? Good

7:05

I'm ready for this first question. She warned me before we

7:08

came out. She was I'm gonna hit you hard right off

7:10

the bat Okay,

7:12

so 50

7:15

years from now when someone's writing your obituary. Yes

7:18

They're gonna say you want an Oscar

7:20

they're gonna say hopefully that you were

7:22

surrounded by Children who

7:25

loved you and whites who loved you. Mm-hmm. What

7:27

else is it gonna say? What's on

7:29

the list for the next 50 years on the list on the

7:31

hope? That I'm in the

7:33

middle of my resume of writing in

7:36

this life. Hopefully it's gonna say he

7:39

was at home in the

7:41

world he was able to Localize

7:45

and feel like he could

7:47

live everywhere he was Which

7:51

is true and That

7:53

his three children named him as one of their

7:55

best friends on their one hand

7:58

After they got out of the house. Not yet After

8:01

they got out of house. And

8:05

that he believed that the

8:07

greatest vocation in the world was parenting

8:09

and he always wanted to be a father since he was

8:11

eight years old and he got to become one and he

8:13

was a damn good one. I hope it

8:19

says that.

8:22

How long until you're an empty nester? Well

8:25

in my house I thought it was always 18 years old.

8:28

You're gone. That number's rising. It

8:31

is. So

8:34

I've got a 15 year old Camilla and I have a 15

8:36

year old, 13 year old, and 10 year old. So by that

8:38

math it would be eight more years and they would all, the

8:40

three of them would be out of

8:43

the house. Up and out. How

8:45

did being a father affect your

8:47

reaction to you, Baldy? Like

8:49

tell me where you were that day when you

8:51

heard the story broke. I was in a studio

8:53

recording a song. A

8:57

song? A song. Are you there?

9:01

Are you a singer? Bless the Mood. It's

9:04

a song for, we have the Moody Center in

9:06

the University of Texas where the men's basketball and

9:08

women's basketball play and it's also the concert

9:10

venue. And so because it's called

9:12

the Moody Center I made a song called

9:15

Bless the Mood which is all about the

9:17

values of a winning championship team for our

9:19

basketball team. And it plays before the games

9:21

there. Can you sing us

9:23

a line please? You can find it online. I

9:27

need a bass line. Come on, come on. There

9:30

you go. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it goes a

9:32

bit like that. I could take another line of

9:34

that honestly. It goes a bit like that. So

9:37

I was in the studio, my wife Camilla was in

9:39

London and I came out of the studio. Inside

9:42

the studio you don't get network for

9:44

any messages. And my phone blew up

9:47

and I saw what happened and a lot of them were

9:49

from my wife and she had already cut

9:52

her trip short, was on a plane flying

9:55

back from London. And that

9:57

next day it was clear we needed to

9:59

do it. to go down there, did not know what to do,

10:01

did not have an agenda. It's one of those things like we

10:04

have to go and we

10:06

pulled out and I remember stopping and I always tell

10:08

this part of the story, stopping in the road right

10:10

outside of our driveway. We stopped

10:12

and looked at each other. Didn't say a word but what we

10:15

both said to each other is that this

10:17

is a one-way ticket. You

10:20

know we're not going to go down there. I don't know what

10:22

we're doing but this does not go down there for five days.

10:24

Come back home and

10:26

it has been a one-way ticket so far.

10:28

Now how much did having my own children

10:31

have to do with the meaning? I

10:34

mean it's hard to measure. I don't know that I would

10:36

have done anything different if I didn't have children of

10:39

my own but because it

10:41

hit my hometown I just had visuals. I

10:43

know where the shooting took place. I remember

10:45

the street. I remember standing on the curb

10:47

asking Mr. Mayor how big is that cloud?

10:50

When I was in kindergarten I remember riding

10:53

bikes past that

10:55

school right behind my mom who was my

10:57

teacher and we'd imitate two canned sand with

10:59

fruity loops right behind you baby

11:02

on the way to school. And

11:04

so the visuals came back. It felt very

11:07

close and that was a

11:09

lot of the reason I think that

11:12

we went down there in particular because it had that

11:14

connection. And then when

11:16

you found yourself on the mic, what

11:19

was that like for you? When

11:21

I found myself on the mic in the press room. So

11:25

that was not planned. President

11:28

Biden had asked for the night before and

11:31

it was an immediate I knew yes and then it

11:36

was this better be

11:38

good. Meaning

11:42

tell the truth. Meaning

11:45

I didn't have a pressure to

11:48

talk great policy and sound like

11:50

a great politician or anything. We

11:53

were still raw from being right there on the front

11:55

line. And we had

11:57

immediate knowledge and immediate emotions. that

12:00

were in our veins and

12:03

in our mind and heart at that time. So I just, I

12:06

stayed up all night to write how I felt. Didn't

12:09

sleep that night and

12:11

showed up the next morning and presented

12:13

what I had learned and what I

12:16

had seen there in

12:18

Uvalde. I needed, I did have to

12:20

convince myself for a minute, look, that's all

12:22

you need to be an expert on because you were there on the

12:24

front line. You don't need to sound

12:27

polished. You don't need to sound impressive

12:29

just speak from the heart of what

12:31

you saw. And that's

12:34

what I did. Are

12:36

you surprised that more people don't speak out like

12:38

that after each of these events? Well,

12:40

they do, don't they? I mean,

12:43

it's always, I'm not gonna belittle it and

12:45

call it a pep rally, but here we

12:47

always get in a big tussle

12:49

and everyone gets a mic and everyone gets

12:51

enraged and everyone yells and everyone cries and

12:53

it's deeply personal. And we all look at

12:55

the TV and we go, yes, we gotta

12:57

do something about that. And

12:59

then a couple of days later, a

13:02

hurricane comes and takes the front page news

13:04

or there's some scam or something that takes

13:06

the news and it fades into the background

13:08

until the next one. It's been a cycle.

13:11

It's pretty consistent. We fortunately

13:13

did not have really

13:15

anything after Uvalde that intercepted the

13:18

front page news. Uvalde, that

13:21

event stayed on the front page for

13:23

longer than a lot of

13:25

these tragedies. And I think that

13:27

has to do with a lot of reasons why the bipartisan

13:29

Safe for Community Act got passed. Oh,

13:32

so let's talk about that. How did you become aware of it? And

13:34

then what did you decide to do about it? Well,

13:37

when Camille and I went to

13:39

the Hill, we met with over

13:42

36 congressmen and women from the Congress and

13:44

the Senate from both sides of the aisle. The

13:47

goal is to get them to have conversations for the

13:49

first time, which I did not know this. They're

13:51

not having near as many conversations you think they are

13:54

together. I would say out of the 36 meetings, the

13:57

most important one we had was the dinner we had the

13:59

first night. where we had 12 Ds and 12 R's

14:01

at the table and

14:03

they weren't sitting across from each other, they were

14:05

intermingling and we broke bread and had dinner and

14:08

drank wine together. They walked out of

14:10

there going, I found out things about my

14:13

friend and my confidant and my neighbor and my fellow

14:15

congressmen, a woman that I never knew. It

14:18

was a value-based dinner, values came out. We

14:20

talked about being parents, talked about America, didn't

14:22

talk politics really, and people walked out there

14:24

knowing each other better. And I was surprised

14:26

at how novel that was. And

14:30

to this day, I'm still told that that was very novel for

14:32

that to happen. Well, it's novel and it's also old-fashioned

14:35

because when it was harder to travel, people

14:37

would stay in Washington and their families wouldn't come

14:39

with them and then they'd have to

14:41

socialize with somebody and so they'd socialize with the

14:44

person across the aisle. Right, yeah,

14:46

so the goal

14:49

semantics-wise that I thought was

14:51

important, which I was helping with this from a friend

14:53

of mine, Roy Spence, gun

14:56

control, control,

14:59

dirty word, mandate, uh-uh. You

15:03

don't tell me what to do. I'm an American,

15:05

I'm a Texan, you don't change

15:07

that to, I said,

15:10

what do the staunch

15:12

second amendmenters on

15:15

the stereotypical right also

15:17

believe in and believe what value do they own?

15:20

Responsibility. So

15:22

we changed that. Gun responsibility

15:25

and I'm telling you, just to change

15:27

in that word, more

15:30

listened. More on the staunch

15:32

second right amendment defenders, listened

15:35

because responsibility is a choice. Control,

15:38

you can tell me what to do. Responsibility

15:41

empowered them to then at least have

15:43

a conversation and be able to listen.

15:45

So it turned out there was this

15:47

piece of legislation that could be

15:49

super valuable if people could access

15:51

it. The safety

15:53

in schools. From

15:55

the bipartisan safety community? Yeah. So

15:57

there was billions of dollars to go to safety in these schools. via

16:00

mental health counseling and actual hardening of the

16:02

schools, whether that be a panic button or

16:06

mental detectors or what have you. A

16:09

few months after the bill was passed, Congressman

16:12

Tony Gonzalez calls Camilla and up and says, can I

16:14

have you? I got time

16:16

for lunch. We have lunch. He goes, Matthew, he's

16:18

a Congressman of Yuvali County and

16:21

119 other districts right there along the

16:23

border in Texas where Yuvali had just happened. You have

16:25

to have 119 districts. The

16:29

act has been passed for a few months now. I

16:31

have 119 districts. There's been

16:34

12 districts apply for

16:36

federal grant and zero have been

16:38

awarded. And we went, that's

16:41

goofy math. That doesn't

16:43

make any sense. And

16:46

so we started to say he had a Texas problem. Notice

16:49

it was a Texas problem. It was a national problem. There

16:51

was an awareness issue across America about the

16:53

money that was there. The people

16:56

that were aware, the superintendent

16:58

that has to fill out this grant for these

17:00

school districts is usually the PE teacher and driving

17:02

the school bus. It doesn't have the time or

17:04

the expertise to fill out this 50 page grant

17:07

application that is incredibly intimidating. So the

17:09

red tape to get to show your

17:11

need from your jurisdictions was not one

17:14

they even didn't know about it. And

17:16

if they did know about it, they

17:18

were like, I'm not even taking my time to apply it.

17:21

You also had this silly little problem that I

17:23

noticed not it wasn't all affluent, but it was

17:25

there. I don't want

17:27

that blue money. I was

17:29

down there going, that money ain't

17:31

blue or red, man, that money's green. And

17:34

it's for you to allocate

17:36

to use for your schools. The government wants

17:38

you to spend it. They want to allocate

17:41

it. There's billions of dollars there. Fill

17:43

out these grants to get to apply and get the

17:45

best chance to get awarded that money to safe in

17:47

your schools. And

17:49

so we started the Green Light Grant Initiative, which

17:52

was to bridge that gap of the communication from

17:54

the schools and the jurisdictions in the districts

17:56

that need it to the government

17:59

agency that. can't award that money. The

18:01

government wants to spend it. It's use it or

18:03

lose it money. If the money

18:05

is not spent by 2026, it's probably going

18:07

to be reallocated somewhere else. And

18:09

we'll look back at that Bipartisan Safety Communities Act and

18:11

go, yeah, it did some good, but it was sheer

18:13

symbolic in a lot of ways. And that was it,

18:15

which many bills are. So

18:17

we're the bridge to the

18:20

government. The government has come to

18:22

us and said, we want this. Thank you for

18:24

this communication. We want to hear and feel the

18:26

need and know the need. And so that's what

18:28

the Green Lines Grant Initiative is doing. We have

18:31

the highest risk schools where we are offering full

18:33

grant writing service for

18:35

those schools. And then there's a tier two where we

18:37

have online webinar now where you

18:39

can go and figure out how to write a

18:42

better grant and which grant to apply for. There's

18:44

a menu. There's all kinds of grants you can

18:46

apply for. And it is complicated. But

18:48

to figure out which grant is right for your

18:50

school, how to apply for it, and

18:52

you get a really good chance of being awarded.

18:55

We've been up for three months now.

18:57

3,000 school districts have applied.

18:59

600 of the highest risk school districts

19:03

have applied. The Department of Education says we

19:05

can get 156 schools grant applications

19:09

that if we can get them awarded, that

19:11

will be a game changer. One,

19:13

for the safety of those high risk schools, but

19:16

two, it'll let the government know this was useful,

19:18

this bill was useful. Let's continue it. Let's continue

19:20

to allocate money to it so this can carry

19:22

on long past now. Have

19:32

all your interactions with people in Washington made

19:35

you want to get closer to politics or

19:37

further away? That's a

19:39

really fun question. It

19:41

is. And my answer

19:44

is both. From

19:47

the outside, it seemed to me that

19:50

politics needed repurposing.

19:53

As I got on the front line around it, I was

19:57

not convinced otherwise. I Learned

19:59

the with i did not know of

20:02

Orange that that that that's the wheels

20:04

of government are are designed and engineered

20:06

to move very slowly. Arm

20:08

and I and I understand that. For.

20:11

Our democracy at the same time.

20:14

Damn. Of I didn't notice some people sitting there

20:16

holding on. A. Hose. Water.

20:18

In the mud beneath. That will make sure it kept

20:20

spin. And.

20:22

That was, I was like, oh, Anna, you

20:24

only do that, it's been slow any way

20:27

that he to sit on their just make

20:29

sure it stays muddy, ah. It.

20:31

So it's made me. More.

20:33

An arrest exam or knowledge of it and

20:35

I'm an i'm an optimist. I'm I'm looking

20:37

for them. You know the at the upside.

20:40

what can I keep learned about how does

20:42

it work but at the same time. You.

20:45

Know it's it's. it's. You.

20:47

Go into it would what pushes be

20:49

away from it was. I

20:52

look at my life and I go. Man, I'm

20:54

trying to win some fair fight. like raise three.

20:56

Children. That get out a household is

20:58

healthy coffee. It is confident young men and

21:01

women. As as asked fair fight. It's not

21:03

a guarantee when pretty fair fight. Pauses

21:07

you go and enough I thought you don't One

21:09

outlaw goes on the back. And. Is

21:11

which plays out on Howdy. Imagine

21:17

said better that is not lie or video

21:19

videos in and and and I question isn't

21:21

a then i think is is to approach

21:23

you go into that. And stamina

21:25

when that. Knife. Fight or de

21:28

gar that go off. Ah

21:30

Mccarran ablaze. Sad. The way to

21:32

democracy for to work. That's not the way we're supposed to

21:34

be The case as other way we're supposed to solve problems.

21:36

The. Altai bother him and that. About

21:40

that free shot the sub games at

21:42

the fight use be disabled a fight

21:44

the a fair fight by saying the

21:46

sought help gonna fight. And I'm still.

21:48

Gone. Through, so that's it. There to push in a pool.

21:51

Yeah with with with politics more learn about.

21:55

His seem to think of you as an entertainer

21:57

and. a charismatic guy don't mind

21:59

saying And wondering

22:02

how those kinds

22:04

of skills and

22:06

your evident passion

22:09

could be applied to

22:12

the larger problems of Texas

22:14

or the heartland or

22:16

the country. I think about it

22:18

daily. You do. Absolutely. In leadership.

22:22

How can I be most useful? Yeah.

22:24

I don't know if that... What's on a multiple

22:27

choice test? Well, right

22:29

now I'm enjoying writing. I'm enjoying traveling and

22:31

speaking to people like yourself in front of

22:33

people that have influence and have power and

22:35

leverage to do things and listen and make

22:37

some changes that we can all agree on.

22:41

I'm on a value rebellion. And

22:43

I think values are above politics. I

22:45

think politics are informed by values and

22:47

principles, but I think they're above it.

22:51

Whether you're religious or not, I think they're

22:53

above it. And I think that's a reform

22:55

and a restoration that we need more than

22:57

anything right now. We have a spinning compass

22:59

of a moral bottom line amongst us. We

23:02

don't understand what our expectations of each other

23:04

and ourselves should even be. I

23:06

thought more people knew right from wrong and were

23:08

choosing the stupid thing. What I'm finding out the

23:10

more people I'm talking to, there's a lot of

23:12

people going like, I don't know the right from

23:14

wrong. I'm just going,

23:18

that's what I... Is that okay to do that? You

23:20

didn't know, you didn't know. I didn't even have a choice. I didn't

23:22

know what choice to make. I didn't see the difference between the two.

23:25

So that tells me there's a vacancy

23:27

in the understanding of just some common

23:30

values that are the invisible sort

23:32

of spirit that gives

23:35

us vitality, whether it's in a family

23:37

or a community or a company or

23:39

a nation or a state. And

23:41

we don't know what those are and we have to

23:43

restore those. We have to define those. We have to

23:45

redefine those and we have to renew those. And

23:48

then our decisions I think will

23:50

be much more civil and our

23:52

discussions and confrontations will be much

23:54

more civil going forward. And

23:56

that will help preserve and replenish democracy

23:59

quite a bit. Probably. You.

24:01

Have a theory about where those values

24:03

went like is it. A. Minute

24:05

the many fewer people used organized religion.

24:07

So there's your is. A difference there.

24:09

but the of other theories about why as

24:11

change. Com or do you think. We

24:14

may be. Yet. Another generation who

24:16

see things were much better in the

24:18

past, but they actually weren't. You.

24:21

Know how they I don't think that out. I

24:23

hear ya down Abu, I know I've I've been

24:25

guilty, that's done that because myself, I don't want

24:27

to become that nostalgic oh back when yes and

24:29

I'm I'm I'm work and not to become that

24:31

And I did read through don't believe. That.

24:34

Either. I'm. I do though.

24:36

Look. A lot of values with with

24:38

relate with religion on the downfall in

24:41

America and even the world's a lot

24:43

of really sound values whether you are

24:45

agnostic or whatever went with that. And

24:48

that that bucket it over there with. Far.

24:51

Right. Old School

24:54

traditional doctrination. Know.

24:56

That has nothing to do the progress. Last

24:59

we progress. I think

25:01

we have to have to breed fun with

25:03

were progresses lot of the ones they progress

25:05

means yes, Everything node. Yes,

25:07

To everything mean nothing. Fan.

25:09

Art. What? Values can

25:11

we preserve Tested and true from our

25:14

past where the religious or not better

25:16

gonna have that are gonna be the

25:18

basis of our decisions and what we

25:20

progress for in innovative sustainability going forward.

25:22

Think we have to bring some long.

25:24

There's some that do not go out

25:26

of style. Is. That as many that

25:28

are not have. that was the season.

25:31

You know you are Bring up a

25:33

story about myself and or a friend

25:35

of ours were I'd done something nice

25:37

for I was thinking the other day

25:39

I. Haven't. Found a

25:42

spot argument against courtesy yet.

25:45

Yeah. I'm not, I'm for it.

25:47

I found it. There's a damning always to the

25:49

fun ones. Since. Humorous value we

25:51

need to make sure doesn't die either. We

25:53

could use that that on ties the not

25:55

a confrontational lot more than we great. Give

25:57

it credit for the responsibility for freedom. you

25:59

don't get. Look at the other. Their rely

26:01

on each other. Yeah. So I think

26:03

that the at the value restoration is

26:05

the way for. but it's that's i

26:08

can be legislated slug gonna be policy

26:10

as can be between our years, between

26:12

our heads in our hearts and is

26:14

gamete individual decision. and if enough of

26:16

us rebel take that. I think it's

26:18

a punk rock idea, actually have enough

26:20

of us do that. That's where Revolution

26:22

Lab. Or few states

26:25

has value. A. A big

26:27

reader t that a church Steve? Ah, one

26:29

in the woods like. We.

26:31

Have Ritual in the family. I mean I'm about. I

26:33

have to keep herself and check on at all the

26:35

time and I think I'm. I'm. Lagging

26:37

behind a lot to do to to

26:39

do better myself. But. We have ritual

26:42

and family. I start the simple one which is

26:44

not a heavy lift for any of us is

26:46

was his gratitude. Whether

26:48

that before every meal. Or.

26:50

Before good goes Gordon say one thing we're

26:52

thankful for. Whether to our foundation the kids

26:54

get around sixty. One thing you think where

26:56

these it's a low lift New Jersey do

26:58

do do Granted circle. I have plenty atheist

27:00

friends that have no trouble say something they're thankful

27:03

for. Ah, they may not thank

27:05

God that example for. At

27:07

Baseline I think that's something that I was

27:09

is in my dna because I was raised.

27:12

With. A very baseline you better

27:14

be thankful for. The. Most

27:17

necessities think. My. Mom

27:19

was still here. Yet one pair of shoes

27:21

and they were like to get a hole

27:23

in the bottom Your foot. The best touch

27:26

on any new pair of shoes. Come home

27:28

and as you see gravity banners used on

27:30

energy, she's given no feet of. Okay,

27:34

okay okay it says.

27:36

A Good with no C. Urology.

27:38

So I come from a

27:40

baseline gravity? go You know?

27:43

did necessities? Ah, I'm. I.

27:45

Also think that's a bit of a gap that we have.

27:48

In. America specifically. Now where are value

27:50

base is spinning? We're We're not sure.

27:53

The. Diversity not want to needs. We

27:55

believe lot of our luxuries. The.

27:58

absolute conveniences are

28:00

necessary and they're not. I'm

28:03

all for having them, but really recognize

28:05

that they're a luxury. You

28:08

might even tend to them better. You might even

28:10

keep that shoe shined a little bit better if you

28:12

recognize it's a luxury. Yeah, I think it's

28:14

interesting to think about language

28:16

that we use. Like I'm always pushing it

28:18

back to my girls and saying, don't

28:21

say you need that, just say you want it. It's

28:23

okay, just own the want. But you definitely do not

28:25

need that. You do not need a new sweater.

28:27

We go through that with our kid allowances. They

28:30

want to spend. Okay, is there a want

28:32

or a need? Are we fulfilling

28:34

the needs? Cause a lot of those needs, let us know

28:36

the needs cause maybe mom and I'll get you that. You

28:39

do need that. They're not going to make you pay for your backpack.

28:41

We'll get the backpack for school, but this one over

28:43

here, it's a want. Okay, put it on the list. Uh-huh.

28:46

Boy, I can't imagine how negotiations

28:49

around allowance go in your house.

28:54

They're pretty colorful. Yeah. I've

28:58

learned this term. I

29:00

will treat you all fairly, but I will

29:02

not treat you the same. Yeah. Isn't

29:05

that like a lifesaver of a line? Yes. Yeah.

29:08

Tell us a little bit about Just Because. Just

29:10

Because is, I had

29:13

a dream one night about two 30 in

29:15

the morning and then, was

29:17

it one of those good dreams? Cause I was dreaming to a musical

29:19

beat and it was like a Bob

29:21

Dylan. How often does that happen? I'm

29:23

happy to say often. I

29:27

got my fair share of nightmares as well, but I'm

29:30

happy to say that when I have good dreams, they're

29:32

to a musical beat. And I was having this dream

29:35

to this little couplets, just because they

29:37

threw the dart, don't mean that it stuck. Do,

29:39

do, do, just because I've got skills, don't mean

29:42

there is no luck. Do, do, do, do. And

29:44

I woke up and as you do from a

29:46

good dream, you try not to jar yourself out

29:48

of it. And it was dark and I was

29:50

keeping the rhythm and I kind of walked over

29:52

to my laptop at the same pace, kind of

29:54

dancing to this jig. And I sat down and

29:56

I slowly opened it and I sat right down

29:58

and it started down. And

30:02

about four hours later, I looked

30:04

at it and there was a lot more than it's in this

30:06

book. And I was like, that's a

30:09

cool song. And then I

30:11

looked at the couplets and I was like, oh, there's

30:13

about 40 couplets in here that are,

30:16

I think could be helpful to my children for things

30:18

they're going through. There's about 40

30:20

couples here that I think can be helpful to a

30:22

lot of my friends that are parents, their children and

30:24

what they're going through. What if this was

30:26

a kid's book? Let's put some illustrations.

30:28

It's already got the rhyme. It's got the jig to

30:30

it. And that's what

30:32

Just Because is. At the end

30:34

of Wordle, do you

30:37

guys do Wordle? Yes. That

30:39

you can do this Wordle bot and it'll sort of

30:41

review how you guessed. And

30:43

then it'll give you a score on like your

30:45

skill. But then the next thing down

30:48

is luck. And I

30:50

think it's such a good reminder that

30:52

you can be like a really good

30:54

actor. But also

30:56

there must have been some luck along the

30:59

way. Because surely there are

31:01

really good actors who are stuck in

31:03

community theater in Yavavi, Texas. And

31:06

you've got the. And I

31:08

know I can track back my career and

31:10

I've got a lot of those immaculate connections

31:12

that have no reason, but have a lot

31:14

of rhyme. And I go back and you

31:16

look in the past, it's easy to make a sign to

31:18

how we got here. You can connect the dots while

31:21

they're going forward to mystery. But I had many things

31:23

I'm like, that happened outside of

31:25

my control. That happened outside of my control.

31:28

Getting a time to kill. And

31:30

all kinds of things went my way. How'd

31:32

you get it? All right. Well,

31:34

one, I took the initiative to say I think I should

31:36

play this part when I was not being I was not

31:38

in an interview for that part. Two,

31:42

the director didn't want a well-known

31:44

actor who was much older. Three,

31:47

John Grisham, the other actor that

31:49

the director wanted, would not approve

31:52

that actor who I won't say his

31:54

name because it's a great story for another time. Three,

31:57

after Sandra Bullock was cast. where

32:00

she comes in at number, the second lead, while

32:04

after she's cast, while

32:06

you were sleeping comes out, makes $18 million, all of a

32:08

sudden she can greenlight a movie. So all

32:10

these things make the studio go, well, we got

32:12

a little leverage to maybe loosen up on who

32:14

might be the lead. And

32:17

then I read for it on a Sunday

32:20

afternoon, it's Valentine's Day, because I

32:22

remember the director said, even no matter how good you do,

32:24

you're probably never going to get this part anyway, and I

32:26

don't want it to go on, your record is not getting

32:28

it. And if John

32:30

Grisham didn't have approval of

32:32

the role, and it was his wife, I believe,

32:34

that said, that guy should play you. And

32:36

if Sandra Bullock doesn't get, have I have a movie that

32:38

opens up at 18 million? Which

32:41

then the studio relaxes and says, we've got more

32:43

box office, green light talent already in the movie.

32:45

And this other actor, that was right, is a

32:47

good friend of mine, what would

32:49

have been approved by John Grisham? I

32:52

wouldn't have got that part. Did I have anything to

32:54

do with that? No, all I had to

32:56

do with was being that first one in the meeting, go, I think

32:58

I should play the part. That's where I put

33:00

my butt on the flagpole. But

33:04

everything after that, I read for it, I

33:06

did a good job of reading, but even to get to there, many

33:08

things had to happen that were completely out of

33:10

my control. And I've got many of those stories.

33:13

Yeah. Tell me about how you

33:15

got Dallas Fire's Club. So Dallas Fire's Club

33:17

is a script that came by my desk in

33:20

my rom-com years when no one wanted me for

33:22

a drama. But

33:24

I loved it, and I held on

33:26

to it. No one would make it with me though.

33:30

Directors passed, studios passed, but I held

33:32

on to it. Other actors came

33:34

and tried to get it, and I was like, gave

33:37

them the bird, no way, you're not getting that, that's mine.

33:39

And one day it'll have its day. Then

33:41

after I had done a few

33:43

dramas, Mud, we had

33:45

talked about. Have you seen Mud?

33:48

Isn't it wonderful? Yeah,

33:50

that's me, that's, yeah, that's not, you know

33:52

why that's my favorite? Because

33:54

it's the one that if my

33:57

dad, if it had come out when

33:59

I... I was 12 and my dad had seen it. It's

34:01

the one, I still see my dad come up to me

34:04

and put his arm around me and go, hey buddy, you

34:06

seen this movie, but no sir. Oh,

34:08

that's a good one. You wanna watch it? It would have

34:10

been the one that he would have said, let's go watch

34:12

this movie. So

34:15

I held on to the Outfires Club. We found

34:17

Jean-Marc Valet. Camille and I saw a film one

34:19

night of his called Crazy. Loved it. And

34:22

we met in New York and he

34:24

came aboard. I came on board. Producers

34:26

were there. We're gonna do the

34:28

movie, we say. But

34:30

we don't have financing yet. And

34:33

we decided, myself the producers and

34:35

director, no, we're doing it. We're gonna

34:37

set the date. We're gonna tell everyone we're doing it

34:39

on that date. And that's when we're doing it. And

34:42

as time went by and no financing

34:44

still came in, I remember many times my agent would come

34:46

to me with another film and I go, when's this for?

34:49

And he said, well, it's for October. It was

34:51

next year. And I was like, I'm not even gonna read it

34:53

because we're doing Dows Pires Club. And he called me back and

34:55

goes like, it's not real, man. That

34:57

movie, we don't have money. And

34:59

I guess it is. And so all of us kind of

35:02

played this full on. It was a little more than a

35:04

bluff, but we did not flinch. And

35:06

as we went forward and that's gonna happen

35:08

in Hollywood and business, if you go forward

35:10

with enough of a coalition that's not blinking,

35:13

people start to go, well, I guess it is happening.

35:18

And I remember even eight

35:20

days before production started, I got a call from the

35:22

director. They met you, I was supposed

35:24

to have $7 million for the movie but

35:27

they only have a 4.9. I didn't have to know

35:29

how I'm going to make it but if you will show up, I will show up.

35:31

And I said, I'll be there. And in those

35:33

eight days, he scrapped the whole lighting department, scrapped

35:36

the drip department because we didn't have the money

35:38

for it. And we made that

35:40

whole movie with not one single light except the headlights

35:42

that my driver left on one night shining through a

35:44

window because he fell asleep behind the wheel in his

35:46

park. And we made it for

35:48

$4.9 million, 25 days. And

35:51

we just showed up and said, we're doing it. Do you think that

35:53

limitation, the lighting limitation changed

35:55

the film for the better? In

35:58

hindsight, yes. I mean, what- What it

36:00

meant was there's no lights on the film.

36:02

What it meant was we're gonna have to

36:04

shoot really fast because we only have 25 days.

36:06

So cameraman, instead of setting up shots, camera's on

36:09

your shoulder, the entire thing's handheld. We gotta shoot

36:11

quick. And I remember the day I showed up,

36:14

first day to work, I got out of the car to

36:16

walk to set and the cameraman was already on me.

36:20

And I was like, we're in, we're shooting. It's

36:22

happening right now. Started the scene in the parking

36:25

lot, walking to the set. And

36:27

I was like that for 25 days. I

36:29

interviewed Jen Garner about this film and she said

36:31

she was worried to death about you the whole

36:33

time because of all the weight you lost. 25

36:38

pounds, something like that? Off

36:41

of this frame? Like

36:43

were you more left to set? I've got a few more

36:45

pounds. I went from whatever, 185 to 180, whatever,

36:50

I got down to 135 from whatever, 187 or 180. And,

36:55

but I was not in it. It was always not in the healthcare. I

36:59

actually tell you an odd story.

37:01

I've never had more clarity or energy in

37:03

my life than then. I

37:05

needed four hours less sleep a night because

37:08

all the leverage and power, physical power I

37:10

had from my neck down sublimated to my

37:12

mind. And I was

37:14

acutely aware. My

37:16

energy, like I said, I had no

37:18

leverage. You know, sex

37:21

drive, get all,

37:24

you know, but I mean,

37:26

but mentally. And that'll happen.

37:28

You lose that much weight, it's just a fact. And

37:31

so, but mentally I was so sharp, so,

37:33

so sharp and had, and needed four hours less sleep

37:35

a night. Did it affect your performance then?

37:38

Surely. Everything affects your performance,

37:40

I would assume. Well, yeah,

37:43

I mean, that was, that was, you know,

37:46

people that had you do it, well, first off, I'm

37:48

playing a guy with stage four

37:51

HIV. If I go in looking like this, you're

37:53

already going BS on that. I don't believe it

37:55

going in. So it's my job to

37:57

do that. And then, but it wasn't, it was

37:59

militant. It was easy to lose. I lost two and a half pounds a

38:01

week, did it in a very healthy way. And

38:04

the challenge was putting the weight back on. That

38:06

was the challenge. I've never had that problem. No, no, no,

38:08

but you do. If you lose that much and then

38:10

you all of a sudden your meals are at a

38:12

small amount and you all of a sudden go back

38:14

to eating the size meals that you used to eat,

38:16

your body can grow back in a deformed way. Because

38:20

it wants to race back up to 185

38:22

pounds and you have to pull the rain

38:24

to go. It took a year to put

38:26

the weight back on healthily. Yeah.

38:29

Well, I have one more just because

38:31

for you. That didn't make the

38:33

book, but just because

38:36

you're an Oscar winning actor

38:38

and I'm a writer, podcaster,

38:41

PBS lady, doesn't mean

38:43

that we might not end up on

38:45

the very same stage in Bentonville, Arkansas.

38:47

Thanks a lot. Thank you.

38:49

Thank you. I

38:55

want to thank everyone, including Olivia

38:57

Walton and Carrie Penner. And

39:00

the whole crew that's behind the wonderful

39:02

Heartland Summit. And of course I

39:04

want to thank Matthew McConaughey. It was a pretty

39:06

fun conversation. We'll be

39:09

back on Sunday with another thanks for being

39:11

here and again next week with another Kelly

39:13

Corrigan wonders. Until then, I'll see you on

39:15

Instagram at Kelly Corrigan. Feel free to drop

39:18

us a note anytime. Hello at kellycorrigan.com. Thank

39:29

you.