McConaughey is a ‘disciplined’ father in real life
The actor plays a flawed but cool dad trying to improve his life in an unorthodox way in “White Boy Rick.”
TORONTO – Is Matthew McConaughey a regular dad or a cool dad? ❚ In “White Boy Rick,” McConaughey’s latest film (in theaters Friday), he shoots for the potbellied latter, playing the father in 1980s crack-laden Detroit who acquiesces to his teenage son’s request to enter the local drug trade. ❚ In real life, McConaughey, father of three with wife Camila Alves, says he’s “a fan of discipline, I’m a fan of responsibility, and I’m a fan of consequences to prepare (my kids) for when they’re out of our house at 18. Because the real world, you can do the same deed and it doesn’t just give you a demerit, you can end up in jail or worse.”
The gritty “White Boy Rick,” unveiled last week at the Toronto International Film Festival, is based on a true story, and it’s a complicated one. Rick (played by newcomer Richie Merritt) was recruited at age 14 to be the FBI’s youngest-ever informant in Detroit’s drug epidemic. His intel helped put away dirty cops and the mayor’s nephew, but after learning the ropes of the drug trade, Rick (with his father’s blessing) set up his own shop.
In 1987, under Michigan’s nowdefunct one-strike law, the babyfaced Rick is sentenced to life in prison. The real Richard Wershe Jr. served almost 30 years in Michigan for his crimes, becoming the longest-serving prison inmate jailed as a juvenile for a nonviolent drug offense.
Filmmakers say they found the opposite of a self-pitying man in prison. “He, unlike most people in
prison, was never claiming to be innocent,” McConaughey says. “He was like: ‘No, I was a criminal. I’m no choir boy. I know what I did.’ “
After being denied early release several times, Wershe, now 49, was paroled in 2017. He now is serving time in Florida on a charge involving a stolencar scheme.
“White Boy Rick” was a hot property in Hollywood, with stars such as Eminem and Mark Wahlberg attached over the years. When director Yann Demange (“’71”) came on board, he melded two scripts, secured the rights to Rick’s story and went to meet the real Rick in jail.
“I tried to capture his tone because he’s really funny. He’s got wit, humor. He does not play the victim card at all,” Demange says. “He’s optimistic. He has hope. And he never feels sorry for himself. I was quite impressed.”
Producers cast his net wide for young Rick and found him in a 15-year-old Baltimore high-schooler with no acting experience. On the set, Demange says, he watched McConaughey adopt a bigbrother role to the teen and says they’ve found Merritt a manager and are keeping a familial eye.
“I tried to capture his tone because he’s really funny. He’s got wit, humor. He does not play the victim card at all.” Director Yann Demange On the real Richard Wershe Jr.
McConaughey, 48, is about the same age as Wershe, though his exposure to hard drugs was far more limited in Longview, Texas.
“At our high school, it was weed,” McConaughey says. “But then ecstasy came in. And that was something that became pretty prevalent that I saw around and people had. I don’t remember cocaine (around); I never saw that until I got to Los Angeles.”
Wershe still hasn’t seen “White Boy Rick.” “We’re going to try to organize a lawyer to go show it to him on a laptop,” Demange says.
A life awaits the inmate after release. Wershe’s childhood sweetheart, with whom he recently reconnected, was invited to the festival screening, and Demange says she has set up a house for the couple in upstate Michigan where they’ll live one day.
McConaughey says he spoke to Wershe just the night before. The actor grins. “He was like, ‘How’s my girl?’ ”