Matthew McConaughey Thinks Woody Harrelson Might Actually Be His Brother IRL

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the two beloved actors from Texas, have appeared in multiple films together, but they became a truly indelible duo with their work in HBO's "True Detective" Season 1. Fans now have a new Apple TV+ series starring the two to look forward to, and since it's purportedly a comedy featuring fictionalized versions of the actors themselves, it's guaranteed to be quite a bit lighter in tone than the adventures of Rust Cohle and Marty Hart.

The show is titled "Brother From Another Mother," but in a bizarre real-life plot twist, McConaughey recently revealed that the two might in fact be brothers from the same mother. That story comes from McConaughey's appearance on Kelly Ripa's podcast "Let's Talk Off Camera," and it's almost too wild to be true.

After establishing that his and Harrelson's families are very close (their kids call them "Uncle Woody" and "Uncle Matthew"), McConaughey shared his recent hypothesis that the bonds between the two might be even stronger than previously thought. "In Greece a few years ago, we're sitting around talking about how close we are and our families," said McConaughey. "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."

Matthew McConaughey seized on the way his mother said the word "knew" and did a little napkin math to satisfy his own curiosity. "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."

The simple solution to this family mystery would be to get a DNA test and see if the two men are in fact related, but McConaughey says the two might differ on this point. "Look, it's a little easier for Woody to say, 'Come on, let's do [a DNA test],' because what's the skin in it 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."

It's hard to know how serious all of this is, or if it's just a little creative embellishment to promote the pair's upcoming series. In any event, fans will just have to wait and see. A release date for "Brother From Another Mother" has yet to be announced, but it's slated to hit Apple TV+ at some point in the future.