Woody Harrelson Receives Sarajevo Honor, Teases 2-Hander 'Brothers'

Q: What decades-old secret blurs the line between fiction and reality for Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in their new series?

The secret is the long-running possibility that Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey may actually be half-brothers. That idea comes from a real-life family rumor: Harrelson has said McConaughey’s mother revealed that she had “known” Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, in a way that suggested more than friendship around the time McConaughey was conceived. McConaughey has also said the timing overlaps with a period when his parents were divorced, fueling speculation that Charles Harrelson could be his biological father. That decades-old question is the premise of their Apple TV+ comedy “Brothers,” in which the two play fictionalized versions of themselves whose friendship is shaken by the discovery that they might actually be brothers. The series deliberately leans on the uneasy overlap between Hollywood rumor and personal history, which is why Harrelson described it as living in the space between fiction and reality.

3 articles · Updated · Variety · Aug 19

Sarajevo honored Woody Harrelson with its Heart of Sarajevo Award as he used a 90-minute career talk to spotlight Apple TV's upcoming "Brothers."
"Brothers" reunites Harrelson with Matthew McConaughey as fictionalized versions of themselves whose friendship is shaken by a decades-old secret that they may be brothers, a premise Harrelson said grew from real-life family overlap.
Harrelson also drew attention with a blunt political aside, saying "Fuck yes" when asked whether "The Hunger Games" resembles reality and calling the American government's role in world events "shameful."
Back in Sarajevo for a screening of 1997 war drama "Welcome to Sarajevo," Harrelson said the city has transformed from a curfew-bound place into one that is "alive and bustling."