40+ People Supposedly Related To Celebrities Share What They're REALLY Like

Take these stories with a grain of salt, while we cant know for sure, they're still entertaining.

Kylin

• Published in Film & TV
• December 21, 2021

Reddit is a treasure trove of many fun and interesting communities. One of the most popular Reddit communities is r/AskReddit, self-described as “a place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions.“

And boy, did user joeygreco1985 deliver when he asked, “People who are related to celebrities, how has their fame affected family gatherings and events?” His question garnered lots of attention, with 24.9k upvotes and over 13 thousand comments.

Users shared some interesting stories of how their relations to famous folks may have impacted their lives. And how these celebrities are REALLY like behind the scenes.

These relations range across the familial spectrum, parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, you name it. There are some pretty heavyweight stars mentioned, from actors to TV hosts, professional wrestlers to singers.

These stories provide a fun peek into the lives of the rich and famous, and how their celebrity status integrates with family life. Some temperaments are no-brainers, while you may be surprised by others.

If you’ve ever daydreamed about having Taylor Swift as a sister, or Keanu Reeves as your Cool Uncle, some people are literally living your dream. Or at least, they claim to be.

Of course, being the internet, it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s been made up for a few minutes of attention. But, that doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment of these stories.

We’ve collected some of the most popular comments from this thread to share with you. Keep scrolling and see who surprises you!

Orange is the New Black

"My girlfriend's cousin is on Orange is the new black, got to watch her place in New York once. She can't get me Kate Mulgrew's autograph so she's dead to me.

Edit: It's one of the Dominicans."

Reddit

Viggo Mortensen

"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."

u/spacemanspiff30

WWE Wrestler

"Late to the party. Throwaway.... not so much to protect my identity, more so to protect my main account.

My dad is a former (although, not officially retired) professional wrestler. He's signed to WWE, in the WWE Hall of Fame, and good friends with someone on a popular TV show that airs on A&E.

My dads fame has effected me, and at the same time, it hasn't. My parents moved us to a very very rural small town to raise my sister and me as normal as possible. The main difference between me and 90% of the other people that live here is: we are extremely wealthy (though we try not to flaunt it). I get cool perks sometimes (movie premieres - rare, backstage to any WWE event - not rare, being at parties with more well known celebs - semi rare) and I've had a few teachers subtly offer me a higher grade for an autograph. My dad got recognized a lot more when I was younger, but I only remember bits and pieces of that. My mom is a substitute teacher in our local school district so really, when here, she gets recognized more than he does. Distant family calls and asks for stuff occasionally. I've lead a pretty normal life for the most part.

My life is more hectic when we go out with his friend. He has a very distinct look. Even if you've never seen the show, you can tell what show he's on just by looking at him. When he comes to visit he gets bombarded, especially because of where we live (south), and nobody glances at my dad unless they're a hardcore wrestling fan.

His "glory days" were late 80's-late 90's, but he's still involved with WWE occasionally."

u/skdlfjksld/

Seamus Heaney

"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."

Reddit

Peter Weller

"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"

u/RonJohnsSurfShop

Elvis Presley

"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."

Reddit

Kings of Leon

"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."

u/GabberFlasm

Megan Fox

"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."

Reddit

Bollywood Husband

"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"

u/Zouea

Dr. Demento

"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."

u/CopyCenterPhil

Dwaye Johnson

"Related to Dwaye Johnson. Regularly smell what he's cooking."

u/KickWhamStunner

Guitarist from Matchbox 20

"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."

u/ictoa88

Lifetouch Old Lady

"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."

u/doingthehumptydance

Gil Birmingham

"My uncle is an actor. Most notably the dad of the werewolf kid. The guy in the wheelchair. That's my uncle. He was in hell or high water recently playing opposite Jeff Bridges. Bunch of other stuff too.

No, it doesn't really affect family gatherings. He's taken my other uncle and cousins to a premier or two, never me though! Bullshit."

u/halfarian

Shay Mitchell

"cousins with shay mitchell (her dad is my dads brother) and we use to see each other a lot. now she comes for christmas or thanksgiving and when people who i don't even talk to see me on her snapchat story they message to hangout."

u/aangsbison

Tom Hanks

"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."

u/MullettOnFire

Zac Efron

"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."

u/TKizzll

Mystery Celebrity

"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."

u/Trolldad_IRL

Witch in Britain

"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."

u/sexosexopharmacia

Will Smith

"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"

u/chrisphan1308

Jon Heder

"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."

u/YouTaintKisser

Creator of video game Crash Bandicoot

"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."

u/dogmommy3

Matt Damon's Step-Dad

"My professor last semester turned out to be Matt Damon's stepdad. School gossip says he cancelled class for J.Lo and Ben Affleck's wedding (and then abruptly un-cancelled it when the wedding didn't work out)"

u/fuwafuwafuwa

Taylor Swift

"I personally know someone who went to high school with Taylor Swift. He says she was a total freaking weirdo and actually a total asshole, that no one liked her."

u/bambihelton

Retired Porn Star

"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."

u/corxcore

Thomas Lennon

"My fathers cousins cousin is Thomas Lennon (Dangle from Reno 911.) I met him and Robert Garant (Junior, also from Reno 911) at a Christmas party at my fathers cousins house. It was totally dope and I made a balls of fury joke which didn't go over too well at all.

But anyways, the only way it has affected my family is the fact that I (we) can say that down the line Thomas Lennon is a family member.

I just like to tell that story."

u/wackavelli

Charles Schulz

"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."

u/psylnced

John Milton

"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."

u/sgismilts

Dani Mathers

"My cousin is Dani Mathers, the playboy model who took that picture of the woman in the gym. We hate her."

Reddit

Xena Warrior Princess

"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!"

u/KnuckleCurve01

Garrison Keillor

"Garrison Keillor who hosts A Prairie Home Companion is a relative of some kind. I've met him when I was really little, but I do remember he was awesome at reading children's books because of his voice.

Apparently some members of the family don't like him because he doesn't hand out freebees (tickets, backstage invitations, etc) and is generally protective of his work. I have no idea as I haven't seen him for over 20 years."

Reddit

Vanilla Ice

"My co-worker is a distant cousin of Vanilla Ice. She hasn't seen him in years. The last time she saw him was at a wedding when they were both older kids. She remembers him acting like a jerk and pushing somebody into a pool."

u/-greenleaf-

Keanu Reeves

"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."

u/Aeksel

Miss Universe

"My cousin was Miss Universe. She got a lot of attention at family gatherings (which are like every weekend in Puerto Rico) but that was about it."

u/code_vector

James Roday

"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."

u/mase_in_mass

Ryan Reynolds

"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."

u/VancouverMongrel

David Tennant

"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."

u/LJGHunter

Matthew Mcconaughy

"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."

u/drycheck

Hugh Laurie

"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."

u/HaroldTheDuck

Rachel McAdams

"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"

u/Msarkari

Konkona Sen Sharma

"I live in the U.S. but my aunt Konkona Sen Sharma is a very famous Indian actress/upcoming director and my grandmother is a world recognized director, but much better known in India. I don't go to India all that often so I'm not very affected by my relation to them, but once when I was in India we were at a coffee place and these two girls came up to my aunt wanting an autograph. I felt really awkward and confused cause this hasn't ever happened to me before. I was also so confused because I've never gotten the sense that they were celebrities because they acted acted like regular people; I always feel like celebrities just act in a different manner than other people. I realized why I thought that after seeing interviews of my aunt and grandmother that my mom watched sometimes. They acted differently, in the way you expect celebrities to act during interviews or talk shows, than how they had ever talked to me."

u/Bulbasaur2000

Bill Gates

"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"

u/thesaucyboss29

Sinbad

"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."

u/WhatIsThisAccountFor

Cage The Elephant

"My cousins are in the band Cage The Elephant. My cousins are so down to earth that their fame doesn't really affect our family. We are all so close (even though we live so far away) and they invite us to their concerts when they're in town. I will say when we plan family reunions, everyone's first question is "Will the boys be on tour then?" Of course this is because everyone wants all the family there and my cousins are usually the most busy out of everyone with schedules that are pretty finite.

Overall, it has brought us all closer having such successful people who worked hard in our family."

u/Pcinfamily

Unnamed Author

"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."

u/ficcionella

Real Housewives

"I have two Aunts on Real Housewives. Were always gaudy and trashy before, still gaudy and trashy now. We avoid them as much as possible.

Also my great uncle (on the other side) was Ernest a la "Ernest Goes To Jail" (Jim Varney) doesn't affect me because he passed away a while ago. Effects my boyfriend because I bring it up every time we see any of his movies."

u/brobernietfm

Duff McKagan

"My uncle is Duff McKagan, bass player for guns n roses. Doesn't effect my family much, he's just like a normal guy to us, we do get asked if we can get autographs of guitars or picks or whatever when people find out we're related though."

u/PredatoryHunter

Richard Ramirez

"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."

Reddit

Richard Karn

"Related to Richard Karn. Felt kinda bad for him the home improvement jokes were relentless."

Reddit

Willem Dafoe

"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."

u/EvilAbed57

Dennis Russel Davies

"My cousin is Dennis Russel Davies, a multi-grammy award winning conductor who works with phillip glass... When my Great Aunt died (His mother) he sort of took over as the 'showrunner' of the funeral... If youve ever heard Phillip Glass, you know some of his pieces can be a bit "ridiculous". Well Dennis decided to play some of his more dramatic choir based pieces for the procession which sound like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDG6scR0yso ...

I remember as a kid looking over and seeing my mom trying to comfort my aunt who appeared to be hunched over bawling... nope... she was laughing her ass off which of course started a chain reaction of laughter through the entire church pew. I still to this day remember dennis looking down on our part of the family in disgust... so yeah... hes kind of pretentious but an amazing dude."

u/smokedustshootcops

Vanessa Williams

"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."

u/XxSliphxX

Yeah, kitty

"My sister-in-law's cat is related to the cat from Austin Powers. They're from the same litter."

u/remembersarah18

Andy Dick

"Andy Dick is my second cousin. He's done so many crazy things over the years and my family is really embarrassed to be related to him, we don't really talk to him anymore"

u/The_Chris_Griffin

Steve Smith AKA Red Green

"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."

u/snakelord

Andrew Carnegie

"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."

u/margarreed

JK Rowling

"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!"

u/jack_hughez

Which story was surprising to you?

These stories were definitely fun to gather so we could share them with our readers. It's somehow comforting to know that families across the world and spectrum of fame are a lot alike.

Which story did you think sounds the most legit? And which ones are obvious baloney?

Share your thoughts and this article with your friends and family! Let us know if you have any famous people in your family and what they're really like behind closed doors.

Kylin