Woody Harrelson reflected on how Matthew McConaughey’s mom revealed she and his dad “weren’t just friends” and that there was “a little more to it.”
Three cheers for how Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey discovered they could be brothers.
Three years after the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor revealed their bond might extend beyond friendship, the Cheers star recalled the moment that Matthew’s mom Mary Kathlene McConaughey—who he’s known for over 25 years—spilled the beans.
“She told me, ‘I knew your father,’ like, you know, with the ellipses, ‘I knew… your father,’” Woody told Variety in an interview published Aug. 21. “So, I'm thinking, ‘Well, that's weird that she's never told me this [in] 25 years.’”
However, Woody noted that “MaMac,” as he called her, was “feeling good” at the time thanks to her Kendall-Jackson wine.
“She tells me [that information], and I'm thinking, ‘Well, what's behind this story?’” he continued. “And then I find out they weren't just friends—there was a little more to it.”
For his part, Matthew—who met Woody in the ‘90s while working on the movie EDtv—has emphasized there has always been a “murky line” in their connection, which heightened MaMac’s revelation.
"In Greece a few years ago, we're sitting around talking about how close we are and our families," the Oscar winner said on the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast in 2023, per Variety. "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."
So, the True Detective costars—who have developed this possible relation into the upcoming TV show Brothers, where they will portray fictionalized versions of themselves—went on to “unpack what this ‘knew’ meant.”
"[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," Matthew explained. "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."
As for if they’re willing to find out whether they’re really half-brothers by taking a DNA test?
"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?" Matthew 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."
For more stars who share a family connection with a fellow celeb, keep reading…
The Simpsons actor, who has voiced Bart since the show premiered in 1989, is the aunt of the "Espresso" singer.
“She's not a blood relative,” Nancy clarified on a January 2026 episode of Toon’d In with Jim Cummings. “Her grandmother was married to my dad, so her dad was my stepbrother.”