The Lost Bus stars Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera and producer Jamie Lee Curtis are praising the real-life teachers and bus driver who saved children’s lives during the 2018 Camp Fire.
McConaughey, who plays bus driver Kevin McKay, told Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum how people don’t typically think of bus drivers and teachers as first responders, but they certainly are.
“You kind of hope they don’t have to be, [but] they are the first sort of parent outside of the house though, just in their role with their children each day,” he said.
“I remember, one of the things when I was talking to Kevin about why he make the decision to go pick up the kids when he was trying to go get his mom and his son, he said he was sort of on duty. ‘It was my job. It was my job,'” he added. “I remember hearing that and there was something very clear to him about that being his job and why he made that decision.”
Ferrera, who plays teacher Mary Ludwig, agreed when talking about her conversations with the real-life Ludwig.
“[That] reminds me of something Mary said when they got through to…the rescue site… the site where they were meant to take the kids. And she saw the principal and the first thing she said to the principal was, ‘I cursed on that bus,'” said Ferrera. “And she was like in this life-threatening situation and still never forgot that she was like a teacher on duty. …She’s so committed to that job. And yes, as parents, you don’t want to think about the school staff as first responders to anything. You want to think, ‘My kids are gonna be great and fine,’ but your children’s lives are in their hands in those moments.”
Curtis was also moved by the true story, which led her to become a producer. She said this is her first producing credit.
“It is my first time lifting something from the beginning. I had read an article in the Washington Post about the book [Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire] written by Lizzie Johnson. And it was a review of the book, and then it had this little section where it talked about Kevin McKay and Mary Ludwig, the bus driver and the school teacher, and their story, their harrowing journey,” said Curtis.
“I remember looking at that and saying to out loud to my husband, ‘Oh, well that’s the movie.’ …And the next day I was listening to NPR Scott Simon, and he was interviewing Lizzie Johnson. He said, ‘My first guest, Lizzie Johnson, the author of this book, Paradise.’ The story that really got me was the story of Kevin McKay, the school bus driver, and Mary Ludwig, the teacher, and I pulled my car over on the side of the road. And I called Jason Blum, my partner, and I said, ‘Jason, I’m sending you a link to NPR and the Washington Post. I wanna buy the book. I believe it will be the most important thing either one of us ever does in show business and I want to do it with you.’ Yeah. And that’s how the movie began.”
Curtis called everyone in the town a “hero.”
“Every person who lost their lives trying to protect their children, trying to get out of Paradise, is a hero,” she said. “We are focusing on two individuals who, in a moment of crisis, answered it in the way they did. But of course, there are thousands of those stories. You know, every mom who evacuated with their kids by themselves is a hero. It’s a cautionary tale [that] highlights the importance of teachers.”
The Lost Bus is now streaming on Apple TV+.