He urged McConaughey to take a DNA test
You may have seen a story doing the rounds in recent days about Matthew McConaughey's somewhat outlandish claim that he and Woody Harrelson may actually be brothers.
The two actors are close friends, and will soon reunite on screen after 'True Detective' and 'EDTv' for a new Apple TV+ comedy called 'Brother from Another Mother'.
However, during a recent interview to promote the series, McConaughey (53) actually admitted that Harrelson (61) could in fact be his half-brother, as McConaughey's mother knew Harrelson's father at a very specific point in time.
"In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families,” he said. "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 added: "We went on to unpack what this ‘knew’ meant and did some math and found out that [Harrelson’s] dad was on furlough [from jail - his father Charles Harrelson was a convicted hitman] 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."
Harrelson has now confirmed the story, telling Stephen Colbert: “The year of [Matthew’s] birth, nine months before, she was on a sabbatical from her relationship with his supposed father, Jim,", and says that he wants McConaughey to get a DNA test to find out once and for all - although McConaughey is understandably reluctant.
"We want to go for a [DNA] test, but for him, it’s a much more big deal,” Harrelson said. “I mean he feels like he is losing a father. But I’m like, no, you’re gaining a different father and a brother."
Harrelson's (and perhaps McConaughey's?) father Charles died in prison in 2007, while serving a sentence for the 1979 murder of US District Judge John H. Wood Jr.