The 'Dallas Buyers Club' star becomes involved in the project after learning from Austin Mayor Steve Adler that some members of the Hispanic community have yet to wear face masks in public.
- April 29, 2020
AceShowbiz - Matthew McConaughey is showing off his linguistic skills by filming a public service announcement (PSA) with Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez to encourage Spanish speakers to wear face masks in public.
The Oscar winner has been doing his part to help raise awareness about the need for people to take extra precautions when out in public during the coronavirus pandemic and recently debuted his alter ego, outlaw Bobby Bandito, in a funny video online to hammer home the message.
However, the Texas native has since learned from Austin's Mayor Steve Adler that some members of the Hispanic community have yet to take heed of the health advice, so he decided to recruit sports star Alvarez to help out.
He told U.S. breakfast show "Today", "I found out the message was not getting to a lot of Spanish-speaking communities, so I said, 'Who will they listen to? Who could be a voice for them, other than myself?' so I called up a friend of mine, Canelo Alvarez, the championship boxer..., so we made this video in Spanish."
In the PSA, Alvarez reminds viewers, "We're in a big fight against the coronavirus and we need to beat it together...
"Remember that we have to protect our families, our friends, and beat this coronavirus. Let's do it together!"
Alvarez and McConaughey close out the video by donning their face masks and declaring in unison: "When we all wear one, we all protect each other. Thank you and just keep livin'!"
The "just keep livin'" line is a nod to McConaughey's charity organisation of the same name, aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged teenagers through wellness programmes.
Meanwhile, the "Dallas Buyers Club" star is eager to reprise his Bobby Bandito character in the near future: "I thought it was time for a message that had a little bit of sense of humour...," he said, "and look, if something that's funny or something that's in Spanish can get the people to listen, it's obviously the better thing, the safer thing to do, to wear one (a face covering in public), so as much as we can get the message out in whatever way, we'll keep trying to do that."
