Woody Harrelson reveals how he found out Matthew McConaughey might be his brother

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey's relationship goes back along way and perhaps even longer than either of them initially thought.

In fact, there's a strong possibility that the Hollywood acting stars are actually brothers, as McConaughey first revealed back in 2023.

Speaking three years on, Harrelson has recalled how McConaughey's mother, Mary Kathlene McConaughey, or MaMac as he calls her, first dropped the bombshell that the pair may be much more than just friends.

Harrelson told Variety: “Quite frankly, MaMac, Matthew's mother, told me, I'd known her 25 years and then she told me: ‘I knew your father.'

"Like, you know, with the ellipses, 'I knew… your father.’

"So, I'm thinking, 'oh that's weird, that she's never told me this in 25 years.'"

Harrelson explained that MaMac was feeling 'tight' and 'good' as she had indulged in some wine, with the conversation taking place while they were all on holiday together in Greece.

"She tells me and I'm thinking: 'Well, what's behind this story, you know?'

"And then I find out they weren't just, you know, friends... There was a little more to it."

What McConaughey has said about Harrelson being his brother

Harrelson and McConaughey first met in the 1990s when they were both working on the film EDtv and have been best friends in the three decades since.

The Interstellar star first revealed they could actually be related on the Let's Talk Off Camera podcast in 2023.

He said: "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 knew."

He admitted there is a 'murky line' between their connection even before his mother's shocking reveal.

McConaughey continued: "[We] did some math and found out that [Woody'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."

The pair will be back on the TV together this year

The pair famously starred together as diametrically opposed cops investigating a brutal string of satanic murders in the iconic first series of True Detective, and they'll be appearing on the television screens together again in 2026.

McConaughey and Harrelson will play fictionalised versions of themselves in the Apple TV show Brothers, which is set to explore their possible familial relation.

IMDb’s blurb for the series says: "It follows McConaughey and Harrelson as they try to live together on a Texas ranch. That close space puts their friendship to the test."

However, while Harrelson is willing to conduct a DNA test to get a final answer on all the speculation, McConaughey is a little more hesitant.

"Look, it's a little easier for Woody to say, ‘Come on, let's do [it],' because what's the skin in it for him?" he 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."