Woody Harrelson has confirmed Matthew McConaughey’s recent realization that the True Detective pair may actually be biological brothers, and called for a DNA test.
Harrelson spoke about the bizarre moment on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert during his press run for his new HBO limited series White House Plumbers. Harrelson’s comments come after McConaughey recently learned that the pair’s father and mother were close friends, and perhaps even intimate, during their younger years before either actor was born.
“Well, I’ll just say there is some veracity to that thought because we talked to Ma’ Mac, Matthew’s legitimate mother, and she let us know one time…I mean, this is crazy,” Harrelson said. “We were in Greece watching the U.S. team win the World Cup and I don’t know, I mentioned something about regrets. And I said, ‘You know, it’s odd that my father has no regrets.’ And I have known Ma’ Mac a long time, and she goes, ‘I knew… your father.’ And it was the ellipses I found a little troubling, or interesting. ‘I knew your father.’”
He continued, “The year of [Matthew’s] birth, nine months before, she was on a sabbatical from her relationship with his supposed father, Jim.”
Similarly to McConaughey’s version of the story, Harrelson added, “[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.”
Harrelson said that he’s been pushing for a DNA test to find out once and for all. The pair have been close friends for years and will soon reunite on the Apple TV+ comedy special Brothers From Another Mother, where they’ll play fictionalized versions of themselves.
“We want to go for a [DNA] test, but for him, it’s a much more big deal,” Harrelson continued. “I mean he feels like he is losing a father. But I’m like, no, you’re gaining a different father and a brother.”
It’s true that McConaughey showed some reluctance about a DNA test, saying earlier this month that it would be a massive revelation he’s not sure he’s ready for.
“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?” McConaughey said earlier this month while on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast. “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.”
Watch Woody Harrelson’s full interview up top.
