Matthew McConaughey reveals the real reason he refuses to find out if Woody Harrelson is his brother
It's one of Hollywood's strangest ongoing mysteries, and more than three years on, Matthew McConaughey still isn't ready to find out if on-screen partner Woody Harrelson is really his brother.
Back in 2023, McConaughey stunned fans on Kelly Ripa's podcast when he revealed his mother may have had a secret relationship with Woody Harrelson's father decades earlier, potentially making the two Hollywood stars real-life brothers.
The bombshell came from an offhand comment his mum made while the pair were on holiday in Greece: "Woody, I knew your dad..." - with McConaughey noting everyone in the room clocked the loaded pause after ‘knew.’
Advert
The timeline only added to the intrigue. Harrelson's father was reportedly on furlough at the exact time McConaughey's parents were going through their second divorce.
McConaughey claimed there were "possible receipts and places out in West Texas" placing the pair together.
The pair's off-screen bond has been forged over almost three decades of working together. They first met on the set of 1999's EDtv — where, in a twist that now feels eerily fitting, Harrelson played McConaughey's on-screen brother — before reuniting for 2008's Surfer, Dude and, most famously, HBO's True Detective in 2014. McConaughey has openly called Harrelson his "brother" for years, even captioning a birthday tribute to him on Instagram: "From another mother? Happy birthday brother."
Now, promoting their new Apple TV+ comedy Brothers, in which they play fictionalised versions of themselves, the pair addressed the rumour again on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast, and it's clear Harrelson is fully on board with finally getting to the truth.
"He's fully convinced. He doesn't want to do the DNA," Conan pointed out, to which Harrelson immediately offered: "I'll swab right now. I'll pee in a cup now."
McConaughey, however, is still holding back, and for a deeply personal reason.
"If it turns out to be true, oh man, I got to unpack a whole 56 years," he said, referring to reframing his relationship with the father who raised him. "And if it's not true, he's not going to be near as fun to hang out with."
Harrelson tried to reframe it as good news either way. "Think of it like there was a nice man in my house for all those years. It was a very sweet person. And now I got a new dad," he said. "And you're getting a couple of brothers."
McConaughey did reveal one more detail about his mother's cryptic comment that's since become part of family lore, telling Conan that even his five-year-old son picked up on the implication behind her loaded ‘knew.’
Despite the ongoing suspense, McConaughey confirmed he'll "probably do a DNA test" eventually, just not yet.
Topics: Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson
Michael D. Carroll