Matthew McConaughey Reveals His Mother May Have Had an Affair With Woody Harrelson’s Dad

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are bringing their off-camera “bromance” to the small screen in their upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series Brother From Another Mother. But there may be a bit more truth to this brotherhood than they expected.

In a recent interview on Kelly Ripa‘s podcast Lets Talk Off Camera, McConaughey revealed he learned a few years ago that his mother may have known Harrelson’s father intimately at some point.

“In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families,” McConaughey explained. “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.”

The actor explained that they investigated how their parents could have known each other or crossed paths.

“We went on to unpack what this ‘knew’ meant and did some math and found out that [Harrelson’s] dad was on furlough at the same time that my mom and dad were in their second divorce. 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,” he said.

But, McConaughey says, unlike Harrelson, he refuses to take a DNA test to see if they might actually be biological brothers.

“Look, it’s a little easier for Woody to say, ‘Come on, let’s do [DNA tests],’ because what’s the skin in it for him?” McConaughey said. “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.”

Brothers or not, the pair have a real-life connection that’s bonded their careers and families rather intimately.

“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,” he told Ripa.

“You know, where I start and where he ends, and where he starts and I end, has always been like a murky line,” McConaughey said. “And that’s part of our bromance, right?”

Brother From Another Mother will be the actors’ latest collaboration together. The 10-episode comedy series will show fictionalized versions of Harrelson and McConaughey as they attempt to live together with their families on McConaughey’s ranch in Texas. According to the show’s description, it’ll focus on their “strange and beautiful bond.”

This will be the first time the pair have collaborated since starring opposite each other in HBO’s True Detective, which earned both actors an Emmy nomination.

McConaughey is slowly returning to acting after a four-year-long hiatus. He is also set to star in a Yellowstone spinoff series.