When Matthew McConaughey appeared on The Tonight Show on Wednesday, Sept. 12, host Jimmy Fallon challenged the actor to a fun game of “True Confessions.” And during their chat, Matthew candidly revealed that he once saved his now 10-year-old son, Levi, from a charging mountain ram! Yes, seriously! 

“I got charged by a mountain ram at the edge of the Grand Canyon and had to throw my six-month-old child 15 feet through the air — to my wife — to save him,” he recalled. The almost deadly encounter happened while Matthew, now 48, was having a picnic with his wife, Camila Alves, and their son Levi in the mountains nearly a decade ago.

matthew and his family in 2016. (photo credit: getty images)

Matthew and his family in 2016. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Once the couple noticed the raging animal, Matthew said that his wife, 36, immediately started to head to the bottom of the hill so he could toss their then baby Levi into her arms. But after Camilla and Levi were safe, Matthew was still in danger. 

“I grabbed this little branch and I get behind it and it’s this cherry bush and it’s about as big as my pinky and I’m like, ‘This is not gonna save me at all,'” he hilariously explained while showing Jimmy his pinky finger. “I squared off and just tried to go as Yoda as I could with this ram and just say, ‘Not me, whatever it is,’ and he was kicking dirt and everything.'”

Luckily, no one got hurt during the crazy encounter. Though Matthew explained that his dog was growling at the furious animal when they first saw the ram, it was actually the spot the McConaughey family chose for their picnic that seemed to upset the animal.

(photo credit: getty images)
Getty Images

“We were between him and all his ladies and he didn’t want any other male scent on his mountain,” the actor continued. “I was like, ‘Your mountain, sir!'” Matthew and Camilla might want to try a different (and more safe!) location when they go on their next picnic!