Matthew McConaughey and wife, Camila Alves, revealed they are allowing their son, Levi, to join social media for his 15th birthday, despite being “nervous” about the milestone.
“Happy birthday Levi Alves McConaughey,” his father said in a joint Instagram post Friday with Alves, 41.
“Can you believe it?” she said, turning to her husband. “Fifteen years young,” he answered, adding “Hey, buddy, your mom is a little nervous today. One of the gifts we’re giving you, yes, we are allowing you today to join the social media universe.”
“The Gentlemen” star, 53, revealed the couple had been discussing when they would give their blessing for him to get an account since he was 12 years old.
“All his friends have had it for a long time,” Alves noted. “We’ve been holding up.”
McConaughey added, “He knows who he is, and he knows where he’s going. I think he can handle it. He’s got a great story to tell and share.”
“I want all y’all to know,” he said, turning to the camera, “you’re getting a very cool and respectful young man in Levi McConaughey, and I hope y’all can do your best to treat him the same way.”
The “Dallas Buyers Club” actor concluded, “Levi, enjoy the adventure, enjoying telling your story, expressing yourself and what you put out there and the exchange you get with people out there.”
“Happy birthday, go check him out,” they both said as Alves applauded.
Levi shared his first Instagram post within the same hour and responded to his parents’ post in the comments, writing, “Mamma and Papai thank you!!”
“happy to be here,” the 15-year-old captioned his inaugural post, a video montage of him surfing, skiing, cliff diving, volunteering, hanging out with his family and having other adventures that played over an audio clip from his dad’s character from “Dazed & Confused.”
“Let me tell you this,” McConaughey says as David Wooderson in the clip, “the older you do get, the more rules they’re going to try to get you to follow. You just got to keep livin’, man. L-I-V-I-N.”
His dad commented, “levi is l i v i n #happybirthday.”
Commenters praised McConaughey and Alves for having Levi wait until he was 15 to join social media.
“Good for you guys. More parents should have this rule,” one person wrote and another called them “parent goals.”
A third commented, “Love this! Made me so emotional. I love your involvement as parents. You can tell he feels safe, happy and loved!” and a fourth added, “Go Levi!! You have some very wise parents! Can’t wait to watch you tell your story!”
The couple also share two younger children: Vida, 13, and Livingston, 10.