Matthew McConaughey Reveals Why He Wonders If Woody Harrelson Could Be His Real Brother

Matthew McConaughey describes his relationship with Woody Harrelson as a “bromance,” but their bond may go deeper than that. Like blood deep. During an interview on Kelly Ripa’s podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera, the 53-year-old actor and father of three suggested that they might actually be related as McConaughey’s mother knew Harrelson’s father. Like really knew him. *Wink wink*

Chatting with Ripa, McConaughey acknowledged not only how close he and Harrelson are, but also said that their families often mistake one for the other in photos because they look so alike. “You know, where I start and where he ends, and where he starts and I end, has always been like a murky line,” McConaughey said on a recent episode of the podcast. “And that’s part of our bromance, right? 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.”

Why do they look so similar? Well, McConaughey isn’t exactly sure, and his mom, Mary Kathlene McCabe, recently shared a little information with him that’s only led to more questions. “In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families,” McConaughey went on to tell Ripa. “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.”

“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,” McConaughey continued. “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.”

When Ripa then asked if he wanted to do a DNA test to know for sure, McConaughey said isn’t quite ready for that just yet. “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?” McConaughey said on the 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.”

Whatever their relationship actually is, the two Oscar-winning actors go way back and are clearly best buds. They both starred in Season 1 of HBO’s True Detective as well as the 1999 comedy EDtv and now they’re both set to lead a new half-hour comedy series on Apple TV+ called — wait for it — Brother From Another Mother. “We’re doing a series about our families, it’s based on truth ... It’s a love story about us, he and I, and our families coming together and the conflicts and comedy that come with that,” McConaughey shared with Ripa.

Beyond filming Brother From Another Mother and thinking about his family tree, McConaughey has been busy. He’s also set to star in a new Yellowstone spinoff and is currently promoting his Art of Livin virtual event where he will show attendees “the roadmap to livin’ again.”