Matthew McConaughey Handles Thousands of Bees in His New Movie. How He Found Out He’s Allergic to Them (Exclusive)
Matthew McConaughey Handles Thousands of Bees in His New Movie. How He Found Out He’s Allergic to Them (Exclusive)
Tommy McArdleThu, August 13, 2026 at 6:18 PM UTC
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Matthew McConaughey found out he is allergic to bees while making a new movie in which he plays a man who owns a honey business
The actor previously posted a photo of himself with a swollen eye in July 2024 after he received a bee sting
The Rivals of Amziah King is in theaters Aug. 14
Matthew McConaughey received some lessons in beekeeping — and learned that he is allergic to bees — while making his new movie.
McConaughey, 56, stars in The Rivals of Amziah Kingas the titular character, a honey industry proprietor and bluegrass musician who begins to teach his former foster daughter (Angelina LookingGlass) his trade after they reunite, while his competitors plot to advance their own business interests ahead of Amziah’s.
“I got stung early and found out that I was very allergic,” McConaughey, 56, tells PEOPLE in a PEOPLE in 10 interview. “And if I got stung again, it would have been four days with no Amziah on camera because he’d be swollen up.”
The actor adds that they filmed one specific scene in which his character’s arm has a thousand bees swarming around it at the very end of shooting so that they didn’t have to risk him getting stung and having an allergic reaction again.
“If I got stung, they didn’t need me on camera anymore,” he says, with a laugh before adding that he ultimately didn’t get stung at all during that shoot.
Matthew McConaughey handling bees in The Rivals of Amziah KingCredit: Black Bear/YouTube
LookingGlass adds that she, on the other hand, was stung seven times over the course of the movie. “But you’re not allergic. You rolled right through it,” McConaughey says. “She could be camera-ready 30 seconds later. I was very allergic. If I got stung, I was not going to be on camera for five days.”
McConaughey also recounted getting stung by a bee just before filming startedduring a Q&A with costars Cole Sprouse and Jake Horowitz, as well as writer-director Andrew Patterson following a special screening of the movie at New York City’s Angelika Film Center on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
“Beekeeper says, ‘You allergic?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not,’ and he goes, ‘We’ll know if you are or not in 20 minutes.’ 20 minutes went by, looked great. He said, ‘You’re not allergic.’ They all left. I’m in the middle of my 45-minute drive home and all of a sudden I lose all my peripheral vision in my right eye, and I don’t know why until I lower the vanity mirror and my whole side of my face is swollen up,” he said.
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The Rivals of Amziah King made its world premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival. Scott Shepherd, Rob Morgan, Tony Revolori and Kurt Russell also appear in the movie.
McConaughey himself shared a photo of his swollen face following a bee sting on Instagram in July 2024, though it’s unclear whether that sting is the one that occurred while making the new film.
McConaughey confirmed during the Q&A that all bees seen in The Rivals of Amziah King are real. “That’s my hand and my arm and I’m getting tired,” he said of the sequence where he holds thousands of bees on his arm. “It was a 40 minute shot and you had one time at it. We had to let the sun go down and it takes about 40 minutes once you get the queen in your fingers for the rest of that amount of bees to gather around her. And by the time I shake ‘em off, my arm is damn tired.”
When asked by a panel moderator whether the movie’s insurance covered bee stings, McConaughey jested, “That’s what I’m saying — last day of shooting. We don’t need you anymore, we got you on screen, McConaughey, good luck, buh-bye.”
“He’s not going to die,” Patterson interjected, before McConaughey added, “Come on, it makes a good story.”
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The Rivals of Amziah King is in theaters Aug. 14.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
