Are Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson related? Half brother claims explained - who was Harrelson’s dad

For Hollywood stars Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club) and Woody Harrelson (Triangle of Sadness, Zombieland), the phrase “it’s a small world” couldn’t be more true. McConaughey recently revealed that there’s a chance that he and Harrelson could actually be related - and not in a distant cousin, related by marriage kind of way, but half brothers. 

McConaughey and Harrelson are known for having a close friendship, with their bond spanning decades - plus a few on screen roles together. They met in 1998 on the set of EDtv and have since acted opposite one another a few more times together, most famously in 2014 as the detective duo in HBO hit series True Detective. 

The two are preparing to team up once again for comedy series Brother From Another Mother for Apple TV+, which will see them play loosely fictionalised versions of themselves as Harrelson’s family moves in with McConaughey’s family at his Texas ranch. 

This is everything you need to know. 

What did Matthew McConaughey say?

Whilst on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk off Camera podcast, McConaughey revealed that he and Harrelson learned from his mother that she actually knew Harrelson’s father - potentially in an intimate way. 

McConaughey said: “You know, where I start and where [Harrelson] ends, and where he starts and and I end, has always been like a murky line. 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.

“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”. Everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after “knew”. It was a loaded K-N-E-W.”

McConaughey explained that the comment from his mother prompted him and Harrelson to do a little digging into their family histories.

He continued: “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. The there’s possible receipts and places out in west Texas where there might have been a gathering, or a meeting, or a “knew” moment.” 

McConaughey said that he and Harrelson are still debating over whether they’ll be taking a DNA test to confirm if they are or aren’t related.

McConaughey said: “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? 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.” 

What has Woody Harrelson said?

On the Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Harrelson responded to McConaughey's statements that the pair could be related.

He said: "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. We were in Greece watching the US 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 [McConaughey's] birth, nine months before, she was on a sabbatical from her relationship with his supposed father, Jim."

Regarding McConaughey's reservations to go ahead with a DNA test, Harrelson said: "We want to go for a [DNA] test, but for him, it’s a much more big deal. I mean he feels like he is losing a father. But I’m like, no, you’re gaining a different father and a brother.”

Who is Woody Harrelson’s father?

Harrelson’s father was Charles Voyde Harrelson, who was an American contract killer and involved in organised crime.  

Charles Harrelson was first convicted in 1960 for armed robbery. In 1970, he was acquitted for the 1968 murder of Alan Harry Berg, but he was later sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1973 for the murder for hire killing of Sam Degelia Jr, a grain dealer. 

He was released after serving five years of his sentence for good behaviour, however shortly afterwards he was given two life sentences for the murder of U.S District Judge John H Wood Jr, who was shot outside his townhouse in San Antonio. Charles Harrelson was convicted of killing the judge after he was hired by a drug dealer named Jamiel Chagra.

Judge Wood, who had earned the nickname “Maximum John” because of his reputation of doling out harsh sentences for drug offences, was set to have Chagra appear before him on the day of his murder.

Charles Harrelson stated at trial that he was not responsible for the murder of Judge Wood and in 2003, Chagra recanted his previous statements regarding Charles Harrelson’s role in the killing, stating that someone else had actually shot Judge Wood. There were attempts to secure a new trial for Charles Harrelson, however these efforts were unsuccessful. 

One common theory regarding Charles Harrelson is that he was involved in the assassination of President John F Kennedy. For the Judge Wood trial, Charles Harrelson was apprehended by police whilst high on cocaine after a six hour standoff. During those six hours, Charles Harrelson threatened to commit suicide and claimed to have killed both Judge Wood and JFK. 

Charles Harrelson died in March 2007 at the age of 69 from a heart attack in the Supermax federal prison where he was serving two life sentences.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2012, Harrelson said he got on “pretty good” with his father, but he “was not around too much” when he was a child.  

He said: “I think they separated when I was seven. But he was gone a lot before that, in prison. Away and back. Away and back. It wasn’t like he was there all the time prior to that.”

Harrelson explained that he was around “11 or 12” when he found out what his father had done.

He said: “I was 11 or 12 when I heard his name mentioned on a car radio. I was in the car waiting for a lady who was picking me up from school, helping my mum, and anyway I was listening to the radio and it was talking about Charles V Harrelson and his trial for murder and blah blah blah blah and I’m sitting there thinking there can’t be another Charles V Harrelson. I mean, that’s my dad! It was a wild realisation. Then the woman got in the car and saw my face and realised something was up.”