Matthew McConaughey's 2 Brothers: All About Rooster and Pat

Mar. 15, 2025

Matthew McConaughey, Mary Kathlene McCabe, and Rooster McConaughey.Photo:AFF / Alamy

AFF / Alamy

The brothers grew up in a tumultuous but loving home, with their parents marrying three times and divorcing twice, a subject Matthew opened up about in his 2020 memoirGreenlights. While the award-winning actor and his brother Rooster have each gone on to pursue careers in entertainment, Pat has kept his life entirely out of the spotlight.

From their Texas upbringing to the current bond, here’s everything to know about Matthew McConaughey’s older brothers.

All three boys were born and raised in West Texas

Matthew McConaughey as a child.Matthew McConaughey Instagram

Matthew McConaughey Instagram

Rooster was born in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 2, 1954. He moved with his parents to Uvalde in the third grade, where he grew up and later attended Uvalde High School, according toThe Dallas Morning News. After they moved, the family adopted Pat in 1964. Five years later, Kay and James expanded their family once again when they welcomed their son Matthew on Nov. 4, 1969.

In his memoir,Greenlights, Matthewdescribed himself as “an accident,”revealing that his parents weren’t planning on having another child after Pat.

Their family life was occasionally contentious

Matthew McConaughey and his mom, Mary Kathleen McCabe.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

TheInterstellarstar delved deep into some of the more difficult aspects of his childhood in his memoir, revealing that his parents — who divorced each other twice — had an extremely tumultuous relationship.

“This is why Mom handed Dad an invite to their own wedding and said, ‘You got twenty-four hours to decide, lemme know.’ This is why my Mom and Dad were married three times and divorced twice — to each other,” Matthew wrote, adding that at times things turn physical. “This is why my Dad broke Mom’s middle finger to get it out of his face four separate times. This is how my Mom and Dad loved each other.”

Speaking toWillie GeistonTodayin 2020,the actor explained that despite the difficult moments, he never doubted the love his family had for him and for each other.

“I was scared at the moment, but even then and immediately after that, I didn’t ever question the love that Mom and Dad had or the love that they gave us,” Matthew said.

“I tell these stories that are bloody and ugly and sometimes violent,” he added of the book, explaining that sharing those memories helps remind him about the unbreakable bonds his family shares. “And I think the reason I tell them is that those were times where the love that we had — that was never in question — was most challenged, but never had a chance of being beat.”

Their dad died in 1992

Matthew McConaughey with his father, and brothers.Matthew McConaughey Instagram

James died exactly how he’d always said he would — in bed with his wife, according to theMagic Mikeactor.

“I got a call from my Mom. ‘Your dad died,’ ” Matthew wrote in his memoir, as excerpted exclusively in a PEOPLE cover story. “My knees buckled. I couldn’t believe it. He was my dad. Nobody or nothing could kill him. Except for mom,” he explained.

“He’d always told me and my brothers, ‘Boys, when I go, I’m gonna be makin’ love to your mother.’ And that’s what happened,” Matthew wrote.

Rooster is an entrepreneur

Mary Kathleen McCabe and Michael Rooster McConaughey.Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

“I was always good at making money — I wasn’t too good at holding onto it,” Rooster joked onPEOPLE Nowin 2018. “It taught me more about, don’t forget who you are,” he said, explaining that he didn’t “have anywhere to go but up” as a kid, and strives to always keep that spirit in mind. “It’s more important to be who you are than it is to have money,” Rooster reflected.

Speaking toFox Newsthe same year, he elaborated on what it takes to be truly rich. “You can’t just get rich in money,” Rooster said. “You have to get rich in mind, body and soul more than anything else. And do business with a conscience.”

Matthew McConaughey’s brother Michael Rooster McConaughey.

In 2018, he and Gilliam began starring on an eponymous A&E show calledRooster & Butch, which similarly followed their hands-on approach to investing in local businesses.

“We level the playing field,” Rooster told PEOPLE Now. “It’s a condensed version of how we’ve done business our entire lives.”

Despite the popularity of the show, the businessman has said he doesn’t feel at home in Hollywood.

“I definitely don’t fit in, that’s pretty noticeable,” Rooster explained on theHollywood Lifepodcast. “Even in the Armani suit you can tell it’s me … I’m talkative regardless of where I am,” he said, adding that he stays true to himself no matter where he is. “Could be a truck stop or the Academy Awards, so it’s all the same. So I just walk up to them and say, ‘Hey, way to go!' "

Rooster has three children — and two are named after his favorite beers

Rooster has been married three times. During his first marriage, he welcomed a son named Madison Beaumont.Many years later, he welcomed another son, Miller Lyte, and a daughter, Margarita Olympia. For his two younger children, he opted for unique monikers that reminded him of one of his favorite things: beer.

“I named my [3½-year-old] boy Miller Lyte because that’s my favorite beer. And my [11-month-old] little girl is named Margarita Olympia … I liked that beer, too, even though they don’t even make it anymore,” he told PEOPLE in 2010.

Rooster dove deeper into the story while talking withFox News, explaining that he partially did it to get a rise out of his friends.

“What happened was I always drank a lot of Miller Lite,” he explained, adding that when his wife was expecting, his friends began telling him he was going to have to change his lifestyle. “I went, ‘You know if things work out, I’ll be able to take Miller Lite to church.' And I sure as hell did!”

As for his daughter, he managed to sneak in another beer-related name at the very last minute.

“So my wife gets pregnant again and she goes, ‘I’m naming this [one] and you stay out of it.’ Well, her grandmother’s name’s Margarita. And so she names her Margarita.” In the end, she looked to her husband to contribute a middle name after their daughter arrived. “So I threw out Olympia. They jumped all over it. Little did they know that was the name of a beer,” he revealed to the outlet.

Rooster’s favorite of Matthew’s movies isMud

Matthew McConaughey in ‘Mud’.Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

“If I see the commercials aboutMudI still get teary-eyed,” Rooster said on PEOPLE Now, revealing his admiration for the 2013 film, in which his brother stars as a fugitive on the run from the law. “That’s my favorite one of all time,” Rooster added.

Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused.Universal/Gramercy/Kobal/Shutterstock

Universal/Gramercy/Kobal/Shutterstock

While Matthew’s middle brother has kept largely out of the spotlight, the actor shared a rare story about him in 2020.

Speaking to longtime friendKate HudsononSibling Revelry, Matthew revealed that Pat largely inspired the character of Wooderson, his first-ever role in the 1993 classicDazed and Confused.

“Y’all know this as actors,” theTrue Detectivestar said. “Sometimes you study details of a character and other times it’s just an impression. That character was based off a specific day when I was about 10 years old,” he said, going on to explain that Pat’s car had broken down at school, so Matthew and his mom were driving to pick him up.

“So as we’re slowly driving through campus, I’m in the backseat looking out the back window,” Matthew explained. “I see this image of a guy in shadow, leaning against the wall in the smoking section with one boot heel kicked up on the wall, the light shining through, the bent knee, leaning back, kind of a lazy longhand. I was like ‘Whoa.’ He was like nine feet tall, the coolest thing in the world and it was my brother Pat,” he said, going on to call him “an icon.”

source: people.com