15 Celebrities Who Turned Out to Be Related

According to science, we pass down genetic material for about 9 generations ahead. And since the whole process is very random, we might end up having somewhat similar traits to our ancestors or distant relatives. Celebs are no exception to this rule, and their kinship can sometimes be completely unexpected.

We at Now I’ve Seen Everything prepared a list of famous people who are related to one another.

1. Princess Diana and Benedict Cumberbatch

The Princess of Wales and one of the most popular British actors have the same ancestors and are distant cousins

2. Hugh Grant and Queen Elizabeth II

Hugh Grant is a pretty close relation to the Royal family. He can trace his heritage back to both King Henry VII of England and King James IV of Scotland. This makes him the Queen’s 9th cousin, once removed.

3. Blake Lively and Bart Johnson

Blake Lively, the star of movies like The Age of Adaline and A Simple Favor, is in kinship with Bart Johnson, known by many for his role as the coach from High School Musical. The actor is her brother-in-law. Lively, in her turn, is Bart’s sister-in-law and an aunt to his kids, as Johnson is married to Lively’s sister. The celebrities have a friendly relationship, and their common photos on social media prove it.

4. Ralph Fiennes and Prince Charles

Harry Potter’s Lord Voldemort is Prince Charles’ eighth cousin in real life and that is a crossover we never saw coming!

5. Ellen DeGeneres and Kate Middleton

Ellen is actually 15th cousins with Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William. The connection is through a man named Sir Thomas Fairfax and his wife, Agnes Gascoigne.

6. Ralph Fiennes and Hero Fiennes Tiffin

The legendary Ralph Fiennes, an actor we love for his roles in many cult movies, has a famous nephew. It’s Hero Fiennes Tiffin, a young heartthrob who got famous thanks to romantic movies based on Anna Todd’s novels, After and After We Collided. It’s interesting to note that in childhood, Tiffin acted in one of the movies from the Harry Potter franchise together with his uncle.

7. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

Aside from being childhood friends and successful colleagues, Affleck and Damon are also 10th cousins, once removed! This totally explains their chemistry and how they were able to win an Academy Award for Good Will Hunting, the first movie they ever wrote together.

8. Tom Hanks and Fred Rogers

Not only did Tom Hanks play Fred Roger’s iconic part in the recent remake of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but he is also related to him! According to Hanks, the 2 are 6th cousins.

9. Paris Hilton and Queen Elizabeth II

Pairs Hilton is 20th cousins with Queen Elizabeth, through King Henry II, who she is related to on her father’s side. She also discovered that she is related to Marilyn Monroe — so she is related to both real life royalty and Hollywood royalty.

10. Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman

Both Nicolas and Jason come from the Coppola family, which is a very famous dynasty in Hollywood. Their family tree is quite complex, but we’ll try to break it down: Cage and Schwartzman are both nephews of the director Francis Ford Coppola, through his brother August Coppola (Nicolas’ father) and sister Talia Shire (née Coppola, Jason’s mother), which makes them cousins to each other and Sofia Coppola.

11. Cameron Diaz and Nicole Richie

Cameron Diaz and Nicole Richie are married to twin brothers, Benji and Joel Madden, the musicians from the band called Good Charlotte.

12. Carrie Fisher and Billie Lourd

Actress Billie Lourd is the daughter of legendary actress Carrie Fisher. Not only that, Lourd has quite the background — her father is Bryan Lourd and her grandmother is none other than Debbie Reynolds!

13. Dakota & Elle Fanning

Elle may have played Aurora in Disney’s Maleficent, but they actually have real royal blood. Through their mother Heather Joy Arrington, they are the 22nd great-granddaughters of King Edward III. This also makes them 21st cousins of Kate Middleton, as her mother too is distantly related to Edward III.

14. Julianne Moore and Marisa Tomei

Tomei found out, pretty recently, that her colleague Julianne Moore is also her genetic cousin. She was surprised and quite delighted, and revealed that they also went to school together. What a small world! The 2 ladies starred together in the film Crazy, Stupid, Love.

15. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci

Stanley Tucci’s wife, Felicity Blunt, is Emily Blunt’s sister, so they are in-laws.

Which one of these celebrity connections blew your mind?