On The Stephen Colbert Show, Woody Harrelson, now 61, revealed a surprising possibility about his longtime friend and True Detective co-star Matthew McConaughey, who is 53. Harrelson suggested that McConaughey might actually be his half brother. He recalled a trip to Greece with McConaughey’s mother, Mary McCabe, and paused when describing how he first learned about the connection. The moment felt unsettling yet intriguing to him as he spoke about the past and how little pieces of family history can surface in unexpected ways.
Harrelson explained that nine months before McConaughey’s child was born, the actor’s mother hinted at a potential affair involving McConaughey’s father, James Donald McConaughey. He noted that McConaughey was not rushing to take a DNA test, underscoring how such revelations can be emotionally charged and slow to resolve. Harrelson added that McConaughey faced a difficult decision, fearing the loss of his father, while Harrelson reassured him that bonds can extend beyond blood and that there are always other father figures and brothers to lean on.
McConaughey later shared his mother’s story on April 14:
He recounted a time in Greece when family members discussed how close they felt. His mother asked, “Woody, I knew your dad,” and the room seemed to hang on the moment, with the implication that a deeper truth lay beneath the surface. The narrative, he said, left a quiet sense of ambiguity. McConaughey also described how their friendship had long been intertwined with family ties, noting that relatives often appeared in photos with the two of them looking almost indistinguishable, a mix of affection and confusion that colored public perception.
“If you trace where I started and where he ended, and where he started and I ended, the line has always blurred. That’s part of our friendship. My kids call him Uncle Woody, and his kids call me Uncle Matthew. People in our families sometimes mistake who is who in the pictures,” McConaughey observed with a wink, highlighting the playful confusion that has tied their lives together for years.
Within this tapestry of kinship and public persona, a deeper history unfolds about Charles Harrelson, Woody’s father. Known for a notorious criminal record, Charles Harrelson faced early trouble with armed robbery. He received his first sentence in 1960 but served only a short term before being acquitted. Later in the 1960s, he admitted to multiple murders, a confession that would color the family’s narrative for decades to come.
In 1973, Charles Harrelson was jailed for contract killings, a case that involved a modest job value of around $2,000 and an extended prison sentence that he would eventually shorten through good behavior. The trajectory of his life then took a darker turn when he received two life sentences for the 1981 murder of federal judge Jonathan Wood. The individuals who helped bring him to trial faced varying fates, with some clearing charges while others faced their own legal consequences. Harrelson’s wife, Jo Ann, received a lengthy prison term tied to conspiracy and perjury charges, a reminder of how familial loyalties can intertwine with legal peril.
The broader claims about Harrelson’s involvement with high-profile cases remained contested. Jameel Chagra, a key figure in the era, later retracted some statements, suggesting Harrelson might not have killed the judge. Attempts to reopen investigations persisted but did not alter the record. There were also controversial claims linking Charles Harrelson to the Kennedy assassination; investigations found no evidence to support those assertions. In a curious turn, Harrelson himself later suggested that mentioning the Kennedy connection might have been a bid to extend life in prison rather than a factual assertion.
From that moment onward, Woody Harrelson maintained a steady line of communication with his father. He visited regularly during years of imprisonment, and Charles Harrelson passed away in 2007 at the age of 68 due to a heart attack. Reflecting on their relationship, Woody described his father as one of the most articulate and engaging people he knew, yet he admitted that determining loyalty and friendship in light of a painful past is a nuanced and ongoing process. In his view, his father could be seen less as a typical paternal figure and more as someone who might have offered friendship in different circumstances.