Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey to Play Themselves in Apple TV+ Comedy

Apple’s bringing it all the way back to 2014. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the actors who led the first season of “True Detective,” are reuniting for a very different project — an Apple TV+ comedy series where the two Texan stars play fictionalized versions of themselves.

According to Apple’s logline, the untitled show focuses on McConaughey and Harrelson as they bring their combined families together to live under the same Texas ranch, testing the actors’ friendship in the process.

David West Read, whose other Apple TV+ series “The Big Door Prize” recently made its world premiere as part of the SXSW TV selection ahead of its March 29 streaming debut, created the untitled show; aside from “The Big Door Prize,” Read’s also known for writing the book to Broadway musical “& Juliet” and for his work on “Schitt’s Creek,” for which he won an Emmy.

Harrelson and McConaughey are longtime collaborators and friends; although their best known project together is Season 1 of HBO’s “True Detective” anthology, they also starred in the films “EdTV” from 1999 and “Surfer, Dude” in 2008. Harrelson is an Emmy winner for his work on the classic sitcom “Cheers,” and has three Oscar nominations for the films “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “The Messenger,” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri;” other notable credits include “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Zombieland,” and the “Hunger Games” series. McConaughey won an Oscar for his performance in 2013’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and is also known for “Dazed and Confused,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Magic Mike,” and “Mud.”

Recently, both actors have been in the press for their political or social statements as much as they have for their acting careers. On the positive side, McConaughey spent much of last year advocating for gun control after the 2022 mass shooting in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas. On the…less positive side, Harrelson recently stirred up controversy through a variety of anti-vaccination statements, including during his monologue in “Saturday Night Live” hosting stint last month.

Both McConaughey and Harrelson executive produce the show with Read, Bill Bost, and Jeremy Plager. The series comes to Apple TV+ from Skydance Television, and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Matt Thunell executive produce for the studio.