MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY

With a new film, The Lost Bus, and a new book, Poems & Prayers, the actor is feeling the vitality of life on and off screen.

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"Just a little look across the room... with a little wink. Oh, I love that."

ELLE: You've always worked with extraordinary women, and in The Lost Bus, America Ferrera is a force.

What about her impressed you?

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: She's pro, not con. She's not looking for an adversary or a conflict, but she's so pro in speaking and behaving from the identity she's created for her character. I was actually meeting America through her character. Only offset later did we go, “Oh, yeah, hey!” And find that she's got some of the same qualities.

ELLE: Speaking of formidable women, your real-life mother plays your mother.