Matthew McConaughey intimated his mother knew a lot more than she let on about Woody Harrelson's father. Photo / Getty Images
Matthew McConaughey intimated his mother knew a lot more than she let on about Woody Harrelson's father. Photo / Getty Images
They are two of Hollywood’s most beloved actors and have a lot in common, including the fact they may share a parent.
While appearing on Kelly Ripa’s podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera, Matthew McConaughey, 53, has claimed that Woody Harrelson, 61, may in fact be his real life half brother.
Speaking to Ripa he said, “My kids call him Uncle Woody. His kids call me Uncle Matthew. And you see pictures of us and my family thinks a lot of pictures of him are me. His family thinks a lot of pictures of me are him.”
While the comment caused a laugh and appeared surface level, the Interstellar star said there could be a biological reason why the two look very similar.
McConaughey said his suspicions were first raised following the death of Harrelson’s father Charles - who died in prison in 2007.
A comment made on a family vacation resulted in the actors looking into their parent's past. Photo / Getty Images
Noting he was on a joint holiday with both his mother and Harrelson at the time, he said his mother made a comment about knowing the True Detective actor’s father.
“‘In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families. And my mom is there, and she says, ‘Woody, I knew your dad.’ Everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after ‘knew’. It was a loaded K-N-E-W.” He said.
Following the vacation, McConaughey said he began to look into his family history and discovered Harrelson’s father was on furlough the same time his parents were going through a divorce - before the birth of McConaughey.
“Then there’s possible receipts and places out in West Texas where there might have been a gathering, or a meeting, or a ‘knew’ moment.”
The two starred in True Detective together in 2014. Photo / Supplied
However, while the two actors are reuniting for the Apple TV+ show Brother From Another Mother, and are suspicious of their potential brotherhood, they are yet to take a DNA test with McConaughey admitting the stakes are higher for him.
“It’s a little harder for me because he’s asking me to take a chance to go, “Wait a minute, you’re trying to tell me my dad may not be my dad after 53 years of believing that?” I got a little more skin in the game.”
The actor’s believed-to-be father, James, died in 1992 while Harrelson’s father - the man who could actually be McConaughey’s biological father, died in prison 16 years ago from a heart attack.
The two actors will appear in the Apple TV+ show playing loosely fictionalised versions of themselves.
In the 10-episode half-hour comedy, McConaughey and Harrelson — along with their families — attempt to live together on McConaughey’s Texas ranch with the close confines putting their storied friendship to the test.
Apple TV+ calls the new show “a heartfelt odd couple love story revolving around the strange and beautiful bond between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson”.
