celebrities related, emma roberts, vera farmiga, julia roberts

You probably had no idea that these 12 celebrities are related to each other

Kate Middleton and Dakota Fanning are distant cousins


You’ll probably know by now that celebrities are often part of long lineages of impressive people. Take Ralph Fiennes, for example – his family are full of rich and successful people. Or, weirdly, how about Edmund from The Chronicles of Narnia? Milton Keynes is literally named after his family, AND he’s related to Charles Darwin. Therefore it may not be a surprise that some of the biggest celebrities right now have relatives that are also equally as famous.

Seriously, the elite are only elite because of their powerful connections, and it gets no better connected than through blood – so, from Ben Shapiro and the girl that played Matilda to Lily Collins and the guy that made that Cadbury’s gorilla advert song, here are the celebrities that you never knew were related.

Ben Shapiro and Mara Wilson

If you know anything about Mara Wilson now that she’s grown out of her role as Matilda, you may know that her politics couldn’t be more different than Ben Shapiro’s, so it may be a surprise to hear that they’re actually cousins. And not even in the distant way, no, maternal cousins.

It’s because of this difference in political standings that they don’t appear to get along and haven’t in a long time – according to Ben himself, she blocked him years before 2017, so yeah… a long time.

Yup, I’d say that confirms it.

Gerard Way and Joe Rogan

This is an unexpected one for many reasons. Popular podcaster Joe Rogan is cousins with the creator of The Umbrella Academy and frontman of My Chemical Romance Gerard Way, although weirdly enough they have never met.

In this clip from his podcast, Joe admits that they’re cousins and that Gerard’s aunt is his grandmother, which is a massive surprise to everyone except Joe himself by the looks of it:

“How crazy that two people in the same family became super fucking famous and don’t even…”
“Yeah, we don’t know each other.”

Right… so… get him on the podcast… please…

Kate Middleton and Dakota Fanning

So, Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning are sisters. Obviously. However, what’s even more bizarre is that they are related to Kate Middleton, although perhaps not in as direct a way as you’d think.

People revealed in 2014 that the sisters are related to King Edward III, who ruled from 1327 to 1377. Kate Middleton’s mother is a descendant of Edward also, meaning that they’re very distantly related. They worked out that Elle is Kate’s 21st cousin, which must make great dinner party chatter.

If we’re counting distant relations, then Prince Charles and Ralph Fiennes are also related through their relation to monarchs.

Julia Roberts and Emma Roberts

julia roberts, emma roberts, related

Okay, outraged readers, if you were already aware of this then MOVE ALONG, because this is for the few people left on the planet that weren’t aware that these two are related.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Roberts (@emmaroberts)

So, yes, Emma Roberts and Julia Roberts are related. Emma Roberts’ dad is Eric Roberts, a well-known actor whose sister is Julia Roberts. That makes these two directly related as aunt and niece, and boy do they like to let us know about it on social media.

Vera Farmiga and Taissa Farmiga

celebrities related, taissa farmiga, vera farmiga

Yawn, another obvious one for anyone that’s seen American Horror story before. Vera Farmiga, the one from all those horror movies, and Taissa Farmiga, the one from American Horror Story, if you couldn’t work it out from how insanely similar they look, are sisters.

I wonder if they all look as similar as these two sisters look? Ah, yes.

Phil Collins and Lily Collins

celebrities related, phil collins, lily collins

For those that don’t know who Phil Collins is, he’s the guy behind that Cadbury’s gorilla song. You know the one. And yes, he’s the father of Miss Emily in Paris herself.

Their relationship hasn’t been particularly great in the past due to his life as a rockstar, with Lily writing in her book, Unfiltered, that she was “angry” at him for leaving: “I became extra careful about what I said and how I said it, afraid he’d think I was angry or didn’t love him,” she wrote. “And the truth is, I was angry. I missed him and wanted him there.”

“I forgive you for not always being there when I needed and for not being the dad I expected. I forgive the mistakes you made.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• These are the strangest celebs that need to stop making TikTok videos immediately

• These are the celebs who’ve come out as anti-mask and anti-lockdown

• The 30 under 30 rich list: Which UK celebs are making the most millions?