Matthew McConaughey returned to his hometown of Uvalde on Friday to pay his respects to the victims of the Texas elementary school mass shooting.
The Oscar-winning actor, a father of three, posed for a photo with members of the Uvalde School District on Friday, three days after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire on a Robb Elementary classroom, killing 19 children and two teachers.
The 52-year-old star did not talk to reporters during his visit, according to other media outlets.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose district covers Uvalde, expressed his gratitude for McConaughey, saying in part that he appreciated him “helping to heal our community.“
“Your visit brought so many smiling faces to Uvalde,” Gonzales wrote.
‘We cannot accept these tragic realities’:Matthew McConaughey reacts to Texas school shooting
McConaughey was born in Uvalde and spent his early years in the small southwest Texas community.
He and his family later moved to Longview in East Texas. McConaughey’s mother was a teacher at a school down the road from Robb Elementary.
Matthew McConaughey says the U.S. can’t accept gun violence, school shootings as ‘status quo’
McConaughey called for action in a social media post on Tuesday, saying that “we cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo.”
Gun violence is an “epidemic we can control,” he wrote.
The University of Texas graduate said “once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us.”
He added that Texans and Americans need to “re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants from our needs. We have to rearrange our values and find common ground.”
“The true call to action is now for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repeat the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to pressure a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?’ ” he wrote. “We cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo.”
McConaughey later wrote that “action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.”
A day earlier, Duchess Meghan visited Uvalde, left white roses at a memorial for the 21 Texas school shooting victims
His visit came a day after Meghan Markle visited Uvalde to honor the 21 lives lost in the attack. An Archewell spokesperson confirmed Meghan’s visit, saying it was important for Meghan as a mother to extend her condolences and support to the Texas community.
The Duchess of Sussex shares two children with Prince Harry: son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, 3, and daughter Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, 11 months.
Meghan, 40, was photographed Thursday at the memorial site outside of Uvalde County Court, looking pensively at a row of headstones. In another picture, she was seen leaving a bouquet of white roses.
Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY
Duchess Meghan visits Uvalde:Prince Harry’s wife visits Texas school shooting memorial site, leaves white roses
