Woody Harrelson Says Matthew McConaughey’s Method Acting Tested Their Friendship on True Detective

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey have been close friends for years, but working together on HBO’s True Detective nearly pushed that friendship to its limits.

The longtime pals recently reunited to reflect on their experience filming the show’s acclaimed first season during McConaughey’s appearance on Harrelson and Ted Danson’s podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name. The 2014 season went on to win five Emmys and earned both actors nominations for their performances.

Harrelson, now 64, joked that McConaughey’s intense approach to acting was sometimes hard to handle. He explained that McConaughey stayed fully in character as troubled Louisiana detective Rust Cohle throughout filming.

“He’s method,” Harrelson said. “When we were shooting, he was Rust Cohle. There were so many times I wanted to punch this guy in the face. I’m so mad at him because he’s in character.”

McConaughey admitted he leaned heavily into Rust’s stoic personality, even off-camera. He recalled a moment before filming when Harrelson tried to talk through their different acting styles.

Harrelson explained that their usual dynamic was more like a back-and-forth rhythm. “The way you and I work, I hit you the ball, you hit it back,” he told McConaughey at the time. “We volley. It’s dramatic, but it’s also comedy.”

Harrelson also remembered pushing for more humor in the script, believing audiences expected laughs from the duo. McConaughey, however, trusted creator Nic Pizzolatto’s writing and felt the humor would come naturally from the situations rather than obvious jokes.

According to McConaughey, Harrelson once told him bluntly that his stillness and silence were “not funny” and frustrating to play against. McConaughey replied that he had a feeling it would end up being funny — and, in the end, Harrelson agreed.

“And he was totally right,” Harrelson admitted.

Despite their creative clashes, McConaughey said True Detective remains his favorite TV project to watch. He shared that he didn’t preview episodes in advance and instead watched them weekly as they aired, enjoying the suspense like any other viewer.

While fans have long hoped for a reunion season, Harrelson has made it clear he isn’t interested in returning to the anthology series.

“Never. Not a chance,” he said during a previous appearance on 3rd Hour of Today. Harrelson explained that the first season worked so well that revisiting it could “tarnish” what they achieved.

Still, the duo isn’t done working together. Harrelson and McConaughey are set to reunite in an upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series titled Brother From Another Mother. The show will feature fictionalized versions of themselves living together on McConaughey’s Texas ranch.

A release date for the series has not yet been announced, but fans can look forward to seeing the friends share the screen again — this time with a lot more laughs.