‘Brothers’: Holland Taylor Calls Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson Comedy ‘Liberating’

A-listers Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, who memorably played opposite each other in the lauded first season of HBO thriller True Detective, created the chaotic eight-episode comedy Brothers in which they play fictionalized versions of themselves. Their 30-year friendship is thrown into disarray when during an extended stay at Matthew’s ranch with their families they uncover a decades-old secret: They might be brothers.

The person who lets it slip is none other than Matthew’s mother, Ma Mac, played by the fabulous Holland Taylor, who, to be clear, is not portraying a fictionalized version of herself.

“I don’t think Ma Mac on paper is like me, but I am conjuring up an inner Ma Mac for this part and it’s liberating!” Taylor says. “This whole show is so meta. Who is like who, who IS who, who’s the mother, who’s the father? Lots of mysteries — maybe never to solve. Ma Mac misbehaves, says what she pleases, and keeps at least part of her secrets. It’s possible that she drinks a good bit, which is not like Holland, Holland would just fall asleep. But Ma Mac has a hollow leg and can talk her way out of everything, then tear outta town on her motorcycle. Jeez, I wish that was me!”

As Woody turns the ranch upside down in pursuit of the truth, Matthew considers a potential run for Governor of Texas. The series leans into the stars’ familiar public personas and gives the actors room to riff on them. Taylor observes, “They are both movie stars for a reason, their personalities are pretty captivating, from the get-go! Matthew is sort of a philosophizer in life, and you really see it in this role, partly because he is a father, and as such, guides and educates his kids. Sometimes a little long-windedly, which provokes teasing from the always madcap and carefree Woody, happy to be gooney when Matthew is super serious. And then with the kids, Matthew’s and Woody’s, Woody is a scamp, Matthew the serious guide.”

Apple TV

Taylor has perfected playing the glamorous mature woman dealing with not-so-grown-up men in TV comedies. The role that made her famous was as Tom Hanks‘ powerful boss on the 1980 sitcom Bosom Buddies and she played Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer‘s rich, cutting, sexually curious mother on Two and a Half Men for 12 seasons.

Shooting with these two “brothers” has been plenty entertaining for Taylor. She says, “There was a scene, fun for me to watch, but crazy hard for Woody and Matthew, as they had to be playing serious tennis out in the full Texas afternoon sun. It’s a plot point that they are wildly competitive, and in real life, naturally, they are…. This competition all for an audience of one: Me!”

Taylor continues: “They were whacking and flailing, dashing around the court, power serving, swearing, missing shots, landing beauties with rough, loud commentary all the while. When at last ‘cut’ was called, they both fell on their backs in the grass like they’d been shot! I continued to sip my cool beverage under the umbrella.”

The action doesn’t just come from country club sports. The guys get into plenty of rowdy hijinks – after all, this is Texas — and how the families cope with the news could almost be a new rodeo category.

Related

'Brothers': Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson Play Themselves in First Trailer

No matter how crazy things got while shooting, Taylor says, “Matthew and Woody and I got along well as actors… It’s funny how you can have several things going on inside at once. You’re acting the scene, behaving like the character – and inwardly you’re you, noting what works and what you wonder about… Both those guys are generous actors, saying, ‘This moment went great,’ or ‘Let’s do it one more time, we can make it better.’ They have had so much experience in front of the camera, they speak in shorthand about the next take, or hug you and say, as Woody would do …. “You crruuuussshed it!”  They are both goddam princes.”

Princes, yes. Heirs to the same throne? That’s the question in this strange but heartfelt tale about friendship, family, fame, and the blurry divide between myth and reality.

Brothers, Series Premiere, Wednesday, September 23, Apple TV