Actor Matthew McConaughey has revealed that he and his True Detective co-star and friend, Woody Harrelson, are considering taking a DNA test after discovering that they might be half-brothers.
McConaughey disclosed the news during an appearance on the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast hosted by Kelly Ripa.
According to McConaughey, his mother informed him and Harrelson that she knew Harrelson’s father, Charles, potentially intimately.
Charles was a contract killer convicted of armed robbery, murder, and the assassination of a district judge, who claimed to have assassinated John F.
Kennedy and died in prison in 2007.
McConaughey described the relationship he and Harrelson share as “a murky line” and a “bromance.” He said, “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.” The revelation that Harrelson’s father was known to McConaughey’s mother has led the two actors to investigate their family histories further.
McConaughey recalled a conversation he and Harrelson had while sitting around in Greece talking about how close their families are.
“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 said.
This led them to “unpack” what the comment meant and investigate further.
McConaughey claimed that they found out Harrelson’s father was on furlough when his parents divorced for the second time, and there were “possible receipts and places out in west Texas where there might have been a gathering, or a meeting, or a ‘knew’ moment.”
Both McConaughey and Harrelson have two brothers each.
The actors have appeared onscreen together in the movie EDtv and the series True Detective, and they are due to reunite in an Apple TV+ comedy show called Brother from Another Mother, in which they play fictionalized versions of themselves living together on a ranch in Texas.
The show does not yet have a release date set.
McConaughey explained that the two men are still debating whether or not to take a DNA test to confirm the connection between them.
“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?” 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.”
Harrelson has not yet commented on the possibility of being related to McConaughey.
In a 2012 interview with the Guardian, he said he got along with his father “pretty good,” but added, “[My parents] separated young, he was not around too much.”
Fans have reacted to the news with excitement and disbelief, with many taking to social media to express their surprise and eagerness to know more.
Some have speculated that the actors’ on-screen chemistry in True Detective may have been due to a subconscious connection resulting from their shared bloodline.
It is not the first time that celebrity DNA testing has made headlines.
In 2019, comedian Amy Schumer discovered she was related to US senator Chuck Schumer, while actor and comedian Fred Armisen discovered he was of Korean descent after taking a DNA test.
The use of DNA testing to uncover family connections has increased in recent years, with many people using home DNA testing kits to explore their family trees and learn about their ancestry.
The popularity of such tests has also led to concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of personal genetic information.
