In fact, they claim that there’s a high likelihood that they are biological family, but now it seems things might move to the next level as veteran TV host Maury Povich has offered the pair a DNA test to find out whether they are really brothers.
McConaughey first made the revelation while speaking on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera 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.
“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.”
The Dallas Buyers Club star added that this is what made him and Harrelson want to delve further into their family histories.
“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. 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’s dad was named Charles, and was a contract killer. His first conviction came in 1960 for armed robbery, and was jailed again in 1973 for murder, but released again after 5 years for good behaviour. However, then in 1981 he was given 2 life sentences for the murder of a district judge.
The pair are yet to complete a DNA test to confirm their suspicions.
“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 on the matter.
“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 fifty-three years of believing that?’ I got a little more skin in the game.”
Harrelson spoke out about matters while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and the plot thickened even further.
After Colbert brought up the topic, Harrelson 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 — it’s crazy, we were in Greece.
“We were 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’ve known Ma Mac a long time, and she goes, ‘I … knew … your father.’”
“It was the ellipses I found a little troubling or interesting,” the Hunger Games actor added. “‘I knew your father.’”
Colbert further enquired as to whether the dates all added up, to which Harrison confirmed that it was 9 months before McConaughey’s birth that his mother “knew” Harrelson’s father.
“She was on a sabbatical from her relationship with his supposed father Jim,” he added.
Harrelson concluded: “The thing is we want to go and test. But for him, it’s a much more big deal. I mean, he feels like he’s losing a father. But I’m like, ‘No you’re gaining a different father and a brother.’”
American TV host Maury Povich has spoken out on matters, and even offered to host a show where they test for DNA and reveal the truth.
He told E News: “I just heard about the possibilities – I mean Matthew, I don’t know you; Woody, you’re my pal… But guess what: I would come out of retirement – we could do prime time – DNA, Maury’s back, with Woody and Matthew.”
“Woody’s got my number – I’m ready,” he concluded.
McConaughey responded to Povich later on, saying: “I don’t know if we’re gonna do it on your show, but I like the way you’re thinking.”
