Matthew McConaughey Suspects That His Mom Once Hooked up With Woody Harrelson's Dad
Matthew McConaughey revealed on Wednesday that he suspects he and Woody Harrelson may share more history off-screen than they previously realized. McConaughey shared the family drama on Kelly Ripa's SiriusXM podcast Let's Talk Off Camera, explaining that he recently found out that his mother "knew" Harrelson's father. McConaughey felt sure that their parents had a relationship in the past and even joked that they could secretly be brothers.
McConaughey said that this all started a few years ago when he and Harrelson took a vacation with their respective families. He said: "In Greece a few years ago, we're sitting around talking about how close we are and our families. And my mom is there. And she says, 'Woody, I knew your dad.' Oh, everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after knew. It was a lovely k-n-e-w. Well, we went on to unpack what this 'knew' meant. And [we] did some math and found out that his dad was on furlough at the same time that my mom and dad were in their second divorce."
McConaughey's parents were married three times before his dad passed away in 1992. Harrelson's father Charles passed away in 2007, but there's more evidence out there that he and McConaughey's mother had spent time together. MConaughey added: "Then, there's possible receipts in a place that's out in West Texas where there might have been... a meeting or a 'knew' moment."
Naturally, Ripa asked if McConaughey and there was a chance he and Harrelson were secretly half-brothers, suggesting that they take a DNA test just to be sure. McConaughey laughed at the idea and even said that it could be a part of their upcoming series, Brother From Another Mother. The show is about their close-knit friendship and how it has extended to their families.
"While Woody and I are the best of friends we have different approaches in how we raise our children and how we go about certain things," he said. "I may be a little more organized in certain things. This is a love story. It's a story about us, he and I and our families come together."
McConaughey and Harrelson's families are certainly interesting enough to carry a TV show. Harrelson's father was a prominent figure in the organized crime world during his lifetime and was convicted for the assassination of John H. Wood Jr. – the first federal judge to be assassinated in the 20th century. He was convicted of several other violent crimes including murder, and would later confess to participating in dozens of murders. There were even allegations that he was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. All of this was explored thoroughly in the 2020 Spotify podcast Son of a Hitman.
Meanwhile, McConaughey has already shared enough about his family to pique fans' interest. In his memoir Greenlights, he revealed frankly that his father's death was brought on by an orgasm while having sex with McConaughey's mother. He wrote: "He's always told me and my brothers: 'Boys, when I go, I'm gonna be making love to your mother.' And that's what happened. He had a heart attack when he climaxed."
Brother From Another Mother is being made for Apple TV+ according to a report by The Wrap, but so far few details on the project are available. Fans can learn more about these two unique families in McConaughey's book and on the podcast Son of a Hitman, available only on Spotify.