Highdee Kuan on Playing Woody Harrelson's Daughter in 'Brothers'

Highdee Kuan is still riding the wave of excitement now that her Apple TV+ comedy Brothers is finally out in the world — and the role she almost didn't audition for has turned into something genuinely meaningful. The actress, who plays Olive, the eldest daughter of a fictionalized Woody Harrelson, says the experience of making the show was every bit as joyful as it looks on screen.

A Surreal Audition Story

Landing a role opposite two of Hollywood's most iconic leading men isn't exactly an everyday occurrence, and Kuan is the first to admit she almost let the opportunity slip by. She was traveling through Japan — specifically wandering through a bamboo forest in Kyoto — when the audition request landed in her inbox. The logistics felt daunting, and the idea of booking the job felt almost impossible. She eventually put herself on tape from a hotel room in Korea, reasoning that if it was meant to happen, it would. Clearly, it was.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kuan was drawn into the show's fun-house premise: Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey embrace comedy in Brothers as heightened, fictionalized versions of themselves, living under one roof with their blended families while investigating whether they might actually share a biological bond.

Finding Her Footing Among Icons

Showing up to a table read surrounded by Harrelson, McConaughey, and the legendary Holland Taylor might sound terrifying — and Kuan admits it was, at least for a few minutes. She describes those first days as a kind of "fight or flight" experience, the sheer enormity of it hitting her in waves. But creative sets have a way of normalizing even the most extraordinary situations. Before long, the cast was tossing footballs between takes on location in Austin, Texas, and the nerves had largely melted away.

Kuan credits both Harrelson and McConaughey for establishing an atmosphere where play was encouraged and there were no wrong answers. Because the characters are fictionalized rather than documentary portrayals, she gave herself permission to build Olive from the inside out, keeping a healthy creative distance from whatever assumptions audiences might bring about the real people involved.

Olive's 'True Detective' Moment

The show's most recent episode gave Kuan's character a genuine spotlight — and a sly wink at Harrelson's television legacy. Olive launches her own amateur investigation into whether her TV dad and McConaughey are truly brothers, a mission the character herself likens to a True Detective moment. It's a pivot point not just for the plot but for Olive personally, whose arc begins with a broken engagement that sends her retreating inward.

Kuan describes the sleuthing episode as a chance to watch Olive climb out of heartbreak through action rather than reflection. A phone call with a customer service representative named Brad brings a sharper truth into focus — that Olive herself has some emotional work to do, not just the people around her. It's the kind of nuanced, funny, quietly poignant beat that the best ensemble comedies do so well.

A Healing Experience Off Screen, Too

Perhaps the most touching detail Kuan shared is how deeply personal the father-daughter scenes with Harrelson became for her. Father-daughter dynamics are something she says she's still navigating in her own adult life, and playing out those moments in a safe, supportive creative space turned out to be quietly cathartic. She even told Harrelson as much after they wrapped — that something about the experience had been healing, in the most fun way possible.

Fans who caught the star-studded premiere for Apple TV's Brothers in Los Angeles got an early glimpse of the warmth this cast shares in real life, and it's clearly translated directly to the screen. For Kuan, the whole journey — from a hotel room in Korea to a breakout role on one of the season's buzziest comedies — is the kind of story that reminds you why actors keep showing up to auditions, even when the odds feel long.

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