Matthew McConaughey Calls His Friend Woody Harrelson a Brother, Old Story Surfaces Again

JAKARTA - Matthew McConaughey again called Woody Harrelson "brother". The words came up when he celebrated his 65th birthday with his co-star in True Detective.

People reported Saturday, July 25, that Harrelson turned 65 on July 23. McConaughey then shared a post on Instagram to mark his longtime friend's birthday.

"From a different mom? Happy birthday, brother," McConaughey wrote in the caption of his upload.

The post featured an old photo of McConaughey and Harrelson when they were young. For Hollywood fans, their closeness is not a new story.

McConaughey and Harrelson have a long relationship, both as friends and colleagues. The two first worked together in the satirical film EDtv in 1999.

They reunited again in the comedy film Surfer, Dude in 2008. The names of the two are also more ingrained in the audience's memory through the first season of the HBO series True Detective.

For years, McConaughey has referred to Harrelson as "the brother of a different mother" in social media posts. However, the term is no longer just a joke.

McConaughey has previously said there's a chance he and Harrelson actually have a family connection.

In Kelly Ripa's SiriusXM podcast, Let's Talk off Camera with Kelly Ripa, in 2023, the Interstellar star spoke about her close relationship with Harrelson.

"Where I start and where he ends, and where he starts and I end, it's always a blurry line. That's part of our bromance, isn't it?" said McConaughey.

Bromance is a term for a very close friendship between men, without a romantic relationship.

McConaughey said the closeness was also felt in their respective families. His children call Harrelson Uncle Woody. Meanwhile, Harrelson's children call him Uncle Matthew.

He also said that their families often got it wrong when they saw the photos. McConaughey's family once thought Harrelson's photo was of him. Likewise, the other way around.

The story gets even more interesting after McConaughey's mother's words when they were in Greece a few years ago. At that time, they were talking about the closeness of two families.

According to McConaughey, his mother suddenly told Harrelson that she knew Harrelson's father.

"Woody, I knew your father," McConaughey's mother said, as the actor imitated Ripa.

The remark brought up an old story about a possible family connection between the two. McConaughey explained that there was a time when his mother might have met Harrelson's father when McConaughey's parents were divorcing.

People said McConaughey and Harrelson are also working on a project built on the possibility. The project is scheduled to premiere in September.