Matthew McConaughey Uvalde School Shooting says “We Want to Make Their Lives Matter”

• Matthew McConaughey joins Mila Kunis, Quinta Brunson, and Jennifer Hudson.
• Growing up in Uvalde, Texas, in the 1970s was the stuff of small-town fantasies for Matthew McConaughey.
• 19 of the 21 persons that were slain by an 18-year-old using a semiautomatic weapon were youngsters.

Matthew McConaughey joins Mila Kunis, Quinta Brunson, and Jennifer Hudson. This week, look for all four covers on newsstands and read more from McConaughey’s candid interview in the latest issue below.

Growing up in Uvalde, Texas, in the 1970s was the stuff of small-town fantasies for Matthew McConaughey.

McConaughey lived on the main street of the community and could ride his bike to school or grab some air like Evel Knievel on the dirt pile behind his neighbor’s house. The youngest of three kids raised by Kay, a teacher, and Jim, a merchant of oil pipes, McConaughey first established roots in Uvalde. It’s where he watched his first movie, King Kong, in the only theatre in the small town, and where on sweltering summer days he would seek solace in the pecan tree in his front yard.

Therefore, McConaughey was shocked to learn on May 24 of a mass shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde.

19 of the 21 persons that were slain by an 18-year-old using a semiautomatic weapon were youngsters. The actor, 53, had clarity before his wife Camila, 40, who was traveling in London, could choose the next course of action.

“I just learned the news 40 seconds ago. In this week’s cover story, where he is recognized as one of the people of the Year, he recounts how she responded by saying, “I’m getting on the next flight back – we’ve got to go down there. I responded, “Yeah, we do.”

The two went to Uvalde without a strategy but with their hearts open to anything to see how they could help. Their work in Washington, D.C., helped pressure Congress to approve its first significant gun-safety legislation in over 30 years. They spent weeks visiting and listening to families.

The Oscar winner reflects on the tragic event six months later and how it inspired him to take significant action: “We want those lost lives to matter.”

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