No, this isn’t a stoner comedy scene from a Woody Harrelson or Matthew McConaughey movie (or better yet, starring McConaughey’s mom). It’s not a dream, and it’s definitely not an AI-generated clip making the rounds online.
It’s a real story, straight from the mouths of the actors themselves, shared on Where Everybody Knows Your Name, the podcast hosted by Harrelson alongside Ted Danson. The show is basically an excuse for longtime friends and Hollywood insiders to sit down, loosen up, and swap stories about their careers, their lives, and the kind of behind-the-scenes moments that don’t usually make it into press junkets. And this one is as vivid as it gets.
Picture it: Woody Harrelson—chaotic by nature, even stone-cold sober—and Matthew McConaughey’s mother, both very high, setting off smoke detectors in a bar and having to make a run for it while staff chased them down the hallway. Twice.
Harrelson and McConaughey have one of those friendships that goes way beyond co-stars, usually seen (and felt by themselves) as siblings. A full-on bromance. In fact, they’ve leaned into that dynamic so much that they’re starring together in an upcoming comedy series, Brother From Another Mother. There, they play exaggerated versions of themselves, going through life, friendship, and family chaos under the same Texas ranch roof.
So no, it’s not shocking that weed has been part of the picture at some point. What is a little more unhinged is the fact that McConaughey’s mother was right there with Harrelson, sharing the puff-and-pass.
Things take an even better turn when Ted Danson, between laughs, whiskey, and compliments, brings up McConaughey’s dimples. Harrelson immediately runs with it.
Is Woody Harrelson In Love With Matthew McConaughey’s Mom?
“I love her,” Harrelson says as McConaughey watches him.
The episode stars laughter, whiskey, and compliments. Then, at some point, Ted Danson brings up McConaughey’s dimples, and Harrelson immediately jumps on the comment. “The dimples… where the f*** did you get those dimples?” McConaughey laughs, perhaps sensing there might be more behind the question, given the long and slightly mysterious history shared by both families (more on that later) and shrugs it off with a casual, “Come on.” Then he adds, “They’re from mom.”
Here, the conversation takes a sharp turn. “Him and my mom have a major crush on each other”, McConaughey says. Harrelson doesn’t deny it for a second. “I do love her,” he says. “I love her.” And that’s when things get interesting.
McConaughey explains that his mother and Woody were kicked out of two bars for smoking weed. “Setting a fire alarm was one, and the other one was just like: ‘That’s illegal. What the hell y’all doing? Get out of here.’ And they ran.”
Harrelson confirms every detail. “We ran. But we ran the first time too, when that fire alarm went on. Both times we got out of trouble”. Just the two of them: high, defiant, and sprinting away from the rules. “She’s fun, man. She is fun,” Harrelson adds. McConaughey says he wasn’t there. He was in another room, probably drinking a beer.
And then Ted Danson asks the question everyone is thinking. Does Matthew McConaughey smoke weed?
“Do you smoke ever, but just not now, or…?” Harrelson cuts in before McConaughey can answer. “No, no. You don’t want him smoking”. McConaughey explains why: “The new stuff really does not agree with my constitution or my mental makeup,” he says. “It goes the other way. Time speeds up for me. I’ve chipped front tooth three times, falling out of a tree on a full moon, smoking the stuff Woody has”. Harrelson bursts out laughing.
Woody Harrelson, Weed Activist
Of course, Woody Harrelson does smoke pot and has never hidden his relationship with cannabis. The Californian actor has been an outspoken advocate for the legalization of cannabis and hemp for decades. He even participated in public actions such as planting hemp seeds in Kentucky in protest against outdated laws, which led to his arrest for possession.
In recent years, Harrelson took that commitment a step further by opening The Woods WeHo, a cannabis dispensary and lounge in West Hollywood, designed as a social, community-oriented space rather than a traditional retail experience.
His activism has also touched on politics. Over the years, he has spoken out about the different cultural perceptions of marijuana, advocating for its responsible use and the need to reform laws that penalize users and hemp farmers indiscriminately.
Are Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey Actually Brothers?
Officially, no. But could they be? The connection gets deeper and more intriguing when McConaughey reveals that his mother once said she knew Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, at a time when she was separated from McConaughey’s own father.
The way she phrased it left little room for innocence, McConaughey recalls. “Woody, I knew your father,” she said, pausing just long enough for that “knew” to carry a lot more weight than it should have. Especially given that, at that exact moment, she was separated from McConaughey’s father. “Everyone was aware of the ellipsis my mom left after “knew”… was a loaded K-N-E-W”.
Woody Harrelson’s father was allegedly a hitman, a contract killer who murdered a federal judge for $250,000. Said crime sent him to prison in the 1970s, years after he had already abandoned his family, including Harrelson himself. During one of his releases from prison, he is said to have crossed paths with McConaughey’s mother. That was the moment she later shared—mysteriously, ambiguously, but with unmistakable implication.
So let’s pause for a second. Could Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson actually be related? Like, genetically related?
It doesn’t really seem like it. There’s no DNA test, no proof to support the theory. But that doesn’t seem to matter much to either of them. The brotherhood they share is undeniable, and it goes far beyond being biologically related or not.
Cover photo: VOA News, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Edit: background added
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