Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera & Paul Greengrass On The Lost Bus: An Empire Podcast Interview Special

The Empire Film Podcast

Bauer Media

Tv & Film, Film Reviews

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul Greengrass' The Lost Bus stars Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera as a bus driver and teacher, respectively, who have to navigate a deadly Californian wildfire while stuck on a school bus with a group of terrified children, very little water, and fire and flames closing in on all sides. Based on a true story (the 2018 Camp Fire is one of the deadliest wildfires in US history), it's Greengrass at his intense best, conjuring a cinematic experience that's among the best depictions of the intensity of fire, heat and flames ever put on film. And in this interview special, Chris Hewitt sits down with Greengrass (on Zoom), and McConaughey and Ferrera (in person) to talk about the experience of making it. The film is out now on AppleTV+ and, while this isn't a spoiler special, reference is made throughout to key moments from the movie, so it might be best for you to have watched it beforehand. Either way, enjoy.

Transcript

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0:24.0	What's on TV? The answer is a lot. There's never been more choice ever what to put on the box with an abundance of great new shows, but you can miss them all if you don't know where to look. And that's where the pilot TV podcast comes in, your essential guide to every show that matters. Each week, we sift through the very best in Prestige TV to help you decide what's worth spending your time on and what isn't. So join me, James Dyer, as well as venerable TV critics, Boyd Hilton and Kay Ribeiro,
0:26.4	and let us help take the stress out of your downtime.
0:29.8	The Pilot TV podcast, because you can't watch everything.
0:32.8	You can't do much in under five minutes.
0:36.6	Boil an egg, sure, cook a roast dinner, no chance. But comparing car insurance prices with mustard.co.com.
0:40.7	Easy. See what you could save in just a few minutes. Click mustard.com.org
0:45.7	authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. See website for details.
1:10.1	Hello, Paul, I'm Chris Hewitt, and welcome to another Empire podcast interview special.
1:30.9	Paul Greengrass's The Lost Bus is a true life tale of the extraordinary challenge facing Kevin McKay, a school bus driver, Mary Ludwig, a teacher and a group of small children when they found themselves trapped and lost on yes, a school bus in the middle of the 2018 campfire, a deadly North Californian wildfire.
1:37.8	The movie, which is one of my favourite of the year, is out now on Apple TV Plus, so you can watch it from the comfort of your own sofa.
1:45.0	But don't be surprised if you find yourself wondering if the temperature in the room hasn't gone up a few degrees while you're watching it, because this movie is one of the greatest depictions of fire, flame, heat, and what it must be like to be
1:51.5	inside a conflagration of the size that I have ever seen. It's Paul Greengrass, firing on all
1:57.4	cylinders. It's his best film for me since Captain Phillips. And when I sat down with him
2:02.4	on Zoom a couple weeks ago, just before he flew to Toronto to premiere the movie, we talked about
2:07.3	how exactly he achieved that effect. We also talked about a whole lot more, and we started off
2:12.1	with some chat about football because Paul is a big Crystal Palace fan. It is a good time to be a Crystal Palace fan. Enjoy. This is a big Crystal Palace fan, and it is a good time to be a Crystal Palace fan. Enjoy.
2:21.3	This is a paid advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy tab S11 Ultra. Arthur C. Clark, or perhaps
2:29.1	it was Isaac Asimov, once said, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
2:37.1	Wait, now I think about it, it was Arthur C. Clarke. Anyway, whoever it was, one look at the new
2:43.0	Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra would have blown their minds. Because it's science, that's magic.
2:55.6	The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is everything you expect from a Samsung Galaxy tab. It's sleek, light, powerful, beautiful to look at with a simply stunning 14.6 inch display
3:02.6	that you can watch whatever you want on until the cows come home.
	...

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