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People Who Are Supposedly Relatives Of Celebs Share What They’re Like Behind Closed Doors At Family Reunions (40 Stories)
While we all wonder how it’d feel to sit next to Keanu Reeves at a family gathering, some people have been there, done that. Or at least they claim to. Well, I am no detective, and we haven't got a lie detector right here to see if these people who claim to be relatives of some super famous people are telling the truth, but for the purpose of entertainment, we are gonna take a look at what they have said.
When someone asked “People who are related to celebrities, how has their fame affected family gatherings and events?” it turned into a popular thread with 24.9k upvotes and some pretty interesting stories of how fame had and had not changed their families.
Think of (self-acclaimed!) siblings, step children, aunts and uncles, cousins, you name it, of some pretty heavyweight Hollywood stars, TV hosts, actors and singers, and let’s find out if that celebrity DNA sitting at the round family dinner table is a vibe killer or vibe giver!
And be sure to share your thoughts in the comments whether any of this sounds legit, and if you yourself are related to someone we all know!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My sister-in-law's cat is related to the cat from Austin Powers. They're from the same litter
#2
My uncle is Hugh Laurie and at family events you wouldn't know he's famous, my dad still abuses him (as a joke) the same as they did when kids.
I forget he's famous until I have lunch with him in public.
#3
My aunt is Xena the Warrior princess and absolutely nothing at family gatherings. She is just our aunt. We got stopped a couple times in New Orleans by people who recognized her. Back in NZ when her show was going on some little girls would come up and want to take pics.
She's the one of the nicest people to talk to and never acts like a celebrity. I have gotten to do some very cool stuff in my life which Ill never take for granted because of her kindness!
Hey Lucy! I'll let you guess which one of us it is if your out there!
#4
I had an aunt that had a bit role in a commercial. It was for Lifetouch, she was the old lady lying on the ground who said "I've fallen and I can't get up!" She was a scream and must have done that line a thousand times during our family dinners. Even though everybody in North America has seen that commercial dozens of times she only got recognized a couple of times. She was once recognized in a mall and laid down on the floor and said the line, people were cheering and clapping.
#5
Not really a celebrity, but my uncle is one of the first dozen people Bill Gates hired to start Microsoft. He's stupid rich now but spends his time being super generous with his money to family and advocating for the protection of national parks and a healthy environment. Probably the nicest and most down to earth people I've ever met. He never buys anything unnecessary if he can help it. He does all he can to make his house 100% environmentally friendly. He's pretty awesome. You'd never know that he helped change the world
#6
Matt McConaughey is my 2nd cousin. He acts normal with us but the bastard has yet to deliver me a Buick for the bully I beat up for him 38 years ago... Though he does always bring the best booze to the parties.
#7
Not my family member. Woman in our church had cancer and my wife and I (and others) were helping out. Brought food, drove her to the hospital, things like that. She was terminal, single, had a daughter, mortgage and other debts associated with life. We found out that she had a cousin who she had been close to and who was a famous actress and was married to a famous actor. The person overseeing her well being and care at our church had her contact information and reached out to the actress to bring her up to speed. Shortly thereafter her financial issues were resolved and her daughter's future was secured. She was a decent person who helped out and did not make it PR moment.
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
Very touching. It's the kind of thing you would hope a celebrity or any wealthy person would do.
#8
My great great grandfather is Andrew Carnegie, I'm named after his daughter. My mother spent her summers as a child at his castle, Skibo, in Scotland. I've visited a couple times as well, but the castle isn't in our family anymore (my great grandmother ended up selling it partly because her son, my grandfather, passed away very young). As most people know, Andrew was a philanthropist. He gave away most of his money and built a bunch of libraries around the world and started many foundations. Education was very important to him. That being said, my family has never been CRAZY rich, but comfortable. I grew up in the suburbs in a small town in a modest house. Starting working in high school and am now a nurse. Andrew did leave all of his descendents (mine being the last generation to receive it) a trust fund specifically for educational purposes. My siblings and I have used that that for some of our tuition fees but now I am paying for my own school. I feel honored to be a Carnegie and am pursuing a career in nursing and public health in hopes of starting my own non profit one day.
#9
My sister's best friend is Ryan Reynolds' niece. She went to the wedding with Blake Lively. Ryan came to our school one time, A+ guy and he is still close to his family.
#10
My wife is a distant relative of Tom Hanks. It doesn't affect her at all. It affects me because she reminds me of it every time he is mentioned on the TV.
#11
My husband is Jason Rubin creator of the video game Crash Bandicoot and the company Naughty Dog. I'm very proud of him he is a very kind person and also the smartest human I've ever met, also very funny. Sometimes people recognize him and that's makes me very proud.
#12
My cousin is Dani Mathers, the playboy model who took that picture of the woman in the gym. We hate her.
#13
Not me, but one of my friends is an Indian woman who moved here with her family when she was a little kid. When she graduated college, her parents started asking her when she was going to get married, and introducing her to the sons of their friends hoping they'd hit it off. Eventually it worked, they introduced her to a really nice guy who was also born in India but lived in the same state as us most of the year.
She didn't find out until a month or two into the relationship that he's a famous Bollywood star, he's just completely unknown in the US. They're married now, and it seems like such a strange dichotomy. When they're in the US they live the same as any other (wealthy) American couple. But, Indian tabloids covered their wedding, and interviewed her to see what kind of woman would attract such a star. When they walk into a restaurant in his hometown in India the owner will sometimes shut it down so they can eat alone, and will give them the meal for free, because it's worth it just for the publicity that they ate there.
My friend is pretty quiet and a bit shy, so I think she's really glad they live in the US most of the time, but it's definitely an interesting life. Not to mention her parents are very happy.
#14
Spouse is related to David Tennant. I did not know this until after we were married (spouse born in America). Not impacted life at all except I got to meet him during my first trip to London. Their family scored us tickets to Much Ado About Nothing and we saw David Tennant and Cathrine Tate after the show. Nothing bad to say about either of them; they were both lovely and effusive and Tennant gave us both a hug even though neither of us had ever met him before. Spouse had a brief chat about mutual acquaintances in the family and then we left.
#15
Related to Keanu Reeves. We have a Reeve's Ohana gathering every year in Hawaii and he never comes. Which I don't blame him at all, his dad was not a good father so I assume, besides being a busy actor, he doesn't come because that burned the bridges with our family. My dad sometimes mentions Keanu when the reunions happen, about how he doesn't visit. It's not in a bitter way or anything, just sometimes the little cousins ask. I haven't met all my family in Hawai'i yet cause I live in the mainland, but I do know at least a few people are salty about it. Other than that, my cousins look up to him and get excited when he's in a movie. Even if the kids aren't allowed to watch cause of violence they see a movie poster and look all awe-struck. So cute.
#16
My uncle is a retired hall of fame porn actor. He'd come to Ohio for xmas every year and my mom would give him AND his sexy Porn Star girlfriends my room since it was the biggest. One Christmas morning my mom had me go in to wake him up and LOW AND BEHOLD his girlfriend was completely naked on my bed. I stared for a minute then woke them up. I was 12. My voice changed 3 Octaves that year.
Also, I am distantly related to Abraham Lincoln, but that doesn't affect me as much.
#17
My wife is childhood friends with family of Viggo Mortensen. She got to hang out with him after he shot Lord of the Rings but before it was released. Said he was a very cool guy, extremely laid back, and fun to have a beer with. Her friend spent her childhood hanging out with him on summer vacations and has yet to have a bad thing to say about him.
#18
Apparently Janet Horne, the last witch to be executed in Britain is my 4th Great Grandmother. Only recently just found out after her name was scored out of the old family bible (tree), my 105 year old great grandmother was not allowed to talk about her when she was younger.
#19
My Uncle is Steve Smith AKA Red Green, the Canadian handyman comedy show from the '90's. We used to all gather in the 90's and 00's when our generation had wedding season. He was always the life of the party without ever trying. If there was a lull in conversation he'd pipe in with something hysterical and have the whole table laughing. Never tried, he was just a natural and would never interrupt anyone else. He's a very kind and wonderful guy.
We'd go to tapings of the show and would howl, not only at the show but at the "countrified" studio audience. It was all in good fun. I think the only effect it had at gatherings were on our very excited SO's meeting him for the first time. We only gather once in awhile now as he's winding down a bit - he's in his 70's now and enjoying semi-retirement (still doing shows). The fam tells me we bear a strong resemblance which is nice.
Nannychachi 3 years ago
And remember----if the women don't find you handsome they should say least find you handy!
#21
My grandfather was Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts (Charlie Brown). I don't really know how it affected my family gatherings because my family hasn't been together for a long time for other reasons. But I do know that for a few members of the family the comics are really important to them and they really pride themselves in their involvement with them.
Riley Quinn 3 years ago
Some of us older folx know the story behind the family breaking up. Real shame. But for non-family, his cartoons were there to give us a chuckle.
#22
My first cousin on my father's side is James Roday. He has always been the type of guy, even as a kid, we all knew he was going to be famous. He's just always had that "it" factor, so when he became famous those of us in the immediate family just saw it as an end to the means. The only uncomfortable thing to happen at a family function was at my grandmother's funeral. It was obviously a very emotional time, but my brother's wife at the time didn't see it as such and was taking any opportunity to snap as many selfies and candid "Look at me with Sean from Psych" photos as possible. He was very tactful about it though and graciously granted her as much as he could handle until my brother made her chill the fuck out. Jamie is a good dude, man. Definitely one of the people in my life that I am most proud of, because he earned every bit of fame and fortune he has received all the while staying an incredibly humble guy.
#23
My uncle is Peter Weller,AKA Robocop, every time we go out to dinner he tells these really cool stories about all the other famous people he has met and how he's friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger and it's really cool to listen to his stories for hours on end
#24
I'm a descendant of John Milton, the poet (Paradise lost). You know that music video with the guy on the boat with all the bikini babes? Well, my life is like that except the boat is our basement and the babes are my mom.
#25
My uncle is Dr. Demento. He's a really cool guy. Insanely knowledgeable about music and music history. He is totally cool at family gatherings.
#26
Hey, something I can meaningfully contribute to!
My uncle is Sinbad (the comedian/actor). He is married to my biological aunt on my dad's side, so I am not his blood relation, but his kids and wife are blood related to me.
It actually hasn't. We go on vacations with them every summer, and have for the past 6 or so years. We didn't for a while when him and my aunt were separated, but after they got back together we see that family at least once a year. Just got back from a vacation with them on Sunday actually, we went on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
At first it was a little annoying having to stop every couple minutes because someone asked for a picture, but eventually he stopped posing for pictures while with us. He just says "sorry, I'm with my family" now.
Nothing terribly exciting, but he has been famous since I was born, so I didn't get a before and after experience.
The coolest thing was definitely going to Disney/universal with him. We got the VIP treatment and skipped every line. We rode dueling dragons probably 5-7 times back to back. 3 of us barfed, it was great.
#27
While I was growing up my family was close to Willem Dafoe and his family. They are really wonderful people, but very private, which is completely understandable. My dad got pretty uncomfortable at family events because our family members were always asking him if he could introduce them to Willem, or worse - borrow money from him. It got to the point where my family avoided most family events because they valued their working and personal relationship with Willem & Liz more.
Monty Is Fiennes 3 years ago
Good for you...fame does some pretty hideous things to people....
#28
I'm relatively closely related to JK Rowling, and to be honest it doesn't affect family gatherings at all. Either people whisper about her from afar, or go up and have a conversation with her. Most people don't make a big deal of it and she does the same and just chats to anyone that speaks to her. The biggest reaction I ever get is when someone finds out I'm related to her haha!
#29
Megan Fox is my first cousin once removed (her mother and my grandfather are brother and sister).
She's six years older than me, so there are plenty of pictures of us playing together while growing up, but once she got to the point of puberty, she quickly shifted into modeling and moved from Tennessee to Florida to pursue it. She then got into movies and as you know, made it rather big.
The last time she was in town to visit was about twelve years ago. She came for Christmas and everything seemed normal until she whipped out the stack of headshots she had brought to sign for us to take to back to our friends and such.
She did make it a point to call my grandfather when he had his heart attack back in 2014, so not all is lost in fame. The headshots thing was just a tad comical.
#30
Late to this but my friend's uncle is Will Smith. Apparently he doesn't really speak to much of his family anymore because they're always asking for money and whatnot
#31
Cousins with Zac Efron here. Most of my family is just stoked about [his fame] for the most part. I know that his grandparents recently visited him in LA and he was so busy he could only spend an hour or so with them.
No one believed he was my cousin until I showed them my dad's high school senior photo where he looks identical to Zac.
#32
My old boss is related to Rachel McAdams. They're cousins. She said their grandma always compared the two growing up. "Well Rachel is a really good figure skater, why aren't you?" .. "Well Rachel is a movie star, why do you manage a shoe store".. she hates Rachel. Lol
TheBlackPanda (JustABlackBear) 3 years ago
Oh god🤦🏾♂️must've been horrible to grow up under all that comparison
#33
Related to Kings of Leon through marriage, pretty cool group of guys. We have a family reunion every May and hang out and play horseshoes etc. just like everyone else.
It's kind of funny because even here in my tiny little town they still act like they're going to be bombarded by fans, but literally no one recognizes them.
#34
My cousin is Jon Heder, aka Napolean dynamite. Before he started his movie career, he was a fun, friendly, goof off guy. Family get together soon were a normal thing. After his movies not much changed. Still the same person, just a bit harder to make it out to family gatherings sometimes but he shows up quite often again now that things have slowed down. Our families have always been close so it's been cool.
#35
My ex was related to Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet that was very famous in Ireland, from what I understand. We stayed at his house a few years ago and I had never heard of him. He was just lovely, like a grandpa you would love to have. Very humble and normal house. Ex's mum kept bigging him up but Seamus and his wife were just normal people. The weird thing was walking into bookstores and seeing his face everywhere, then going back home to have lunch with him or chat to him about life.
#36
My neighbor when I was 12 was the guitarist for Matchbox 20 around when they were all over the radio. My dad plays a lot of guitar so he would go over and they would play for a few hours and chill. Got to meet the rest of the band and they were all really cool down to earth guys.
#37
I facetiously asked my best friend if he had a rich uncle & he said, "Actually..." His uncle is a bestselling author. I couldn't believe he never mentioned it before; it's out of respect for him that I'm not boasting the name right now. There have been quarrels over characters that allegedly resemble family members in ways they felt were less than flattering, or too direct-from-life. "You plagiarized my divorce!"
We're dating now & he's taking me to a family reunion in August. I'm already starstruck.
#38
I'm related (distantly) to Elvis Presley. Went to the Presley family reunion years back. It was fucking stupid. Tried to get me to pay $20 for a plate of food. At a family reunion!
Edit: as I've said, traditionally family reunions in my area are a potluck-type deal where everyone brings food and a pay-per-plate idea would be absurd. We would have brought a dish, but were basically instructed not to and then surprised at the steep, per person, per plate price.
#39
My ex-wife is related to Richard Ramirez, yes, The Night Stalker. He come up at EVERY single family gathering big or small. They would talk about him for hours. Same stories same reactions. As the years went by he slowly started to disappear from the conversations. Then he goes and makes national news when he died.
We were already divorced when it happened but that did not stop her family from reaching out to me and telling me, in detail, all about his life and death. It still comes up every time I come across any of them. Can't tell if its pride or sorrow.
Susie Elle 3 years ago
I'd be inclined to say it's probably a form of trauma processing - imagine how it must be to find out one of your relatives is a serial rapist and killer.
#40
Vanessa Williams is my second cousin. I've only met her once at a family reunion years ago. Everyone acted pretty normal to be honest besides a few pictures here and there but yea nothing crazy. Very nice lady.
What do you think ?
tuzdayschild 3 years ago (edited)
Not related but I know them. Tell I said hey next time you see them.
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Dodo 3 years ago
I have zero actually famous people in my family but everyone in my town seems to know my dad. Being out with him is weird sometimes, so I can't imagine that on a global scale.
Tonya Wallace 3 years ago
I have relatives like that. To me, being small town famous is awesome because it means that your dad is a good man. Tell him I said wassup! ✌🏾
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Lovin' Life 3 years ago
What's with all the secretive post where you leave out the name of the famous person you're talking about? They are famous. People already know their names for the most part.
tuzdayschild 3 years ago (edited)
Not related but I know them. Tell I said hey next time you see them.
Load More Replies... Dodo 3 years ago
I have zero actually famous people in my family but everyone in my town seems to know my dad. Being out with him is weird sometimes, so I can't imagine that on a global scale.
Tonya Wallace 3 years ago
I have relatives like that. To me, being small town famous is awesome because it means that your dad is a good man. Tell him I said wassup! ✌🏾
Load More Replies... Lovin' Life 3 years ago
What's with all the secretive post where you leave out the name of the famous person you're talking about? They are famous. People already know their names for the most part.
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