Apple TV's new comedy Brothers will finally offer a scripted answer to a question that has trailed Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson for years: are they secretly half brothers? Showrunner Lee Eisenberg tells The Hollywood Reporter that the eight-episode season builds toward a conclusion on the long-running mystery, though the show still leaves room for more.
The series is rooted in a real story the two actors have told for years. McConaughey's mother, Kay McConaughey — known as 'Ma Mac' — once implied she had relations with Charles Harrelson, Woody Harrelson's father, around the time Matthew McConaughey was conceived. In the Brothers pilot, Holland Taylor plays Ma Mac and drops that bombshell on Harrelson's character, who doesn't work up the nerve to tell McConaughey right away.
McConaughey and Harrelson, friends of three decades, play fictionalized versions of themselves in the mold of Larry David's persona on Curb Your Enthusiasm, according to Eisenberg. The show folds in real details from their lives, including McConaughey's run for Texas governor, as the pair spend the season deciding whether to settle the question with a DNA test.
Eisenberg says the concept came directly from the two stars. He flew to Texas and met with them at McConaughey's house, telling them upfront: "This isn't a documentary, so download me with all the information and all the stories and all the craziness. I want to hear about the real Ma Mac, but ultimately at the end of the day, much like Curb Your Enthusiasm, we're going to take your life and we're going to fictionalize it, and we're going to take the parts that make the most sense and turn the knobs up a little bit."
Eisenberg praised both actors' range, noting, "If you look at their filmographies, it's astounding. It would be hard to point to two other actors who have the kind of range and breadth they have. I think this show delighted them, and they were really excited to do it." He described a loose, improvisational set, where he and the pair would rewrite scenes on location, and where he'd sometimes whisper new lines to Harrelson between takes to throw off McConaughey's reactions for the camera.
As for the central mystery, Eisenberg says he believes McConaughey still does not want to take a DNA test and that he hasn't asked the actor directly what he thinks the result would show. "If they're not brothers, then there's something in the water in Texas," Eisenberg said, pointing to the similarities between the two men. He confirmed the season ends on a cliffhanger, with a built-in setup he hopes will carry into future seasons.
The first two episodes of Brothers are streaming now on Apple TV, with new episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays.
Photo: White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
