Famous FamiliesEvery elite, out-of-touch, sickeningly rich celebrity was once a tiny helpless baby. It had parents, grandparents, maybe siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, godparents...
Celebrities aren’t just born out of the ether and sent into the public eye. They come from families filled with siblings, cousins, second cousins, fourth cousins twice removed, nieces, nephews, step-siblings, and half-siblings. And those relatives have access to the Internet and Reddit, where they are more than ready to share their take on being close to stars.
What's it like to be related to a celebrity? In some ways, it's just like being related to anyone else: you see each other at holidays and on family trips. But there are some bonuses, too. It helps to have a famous face in the mix if you want to cut the line at Disneyland.
How celeb relatives react to their fame ranges from chilled out indifference to glee at being the beneficiary of perks typically reserved for the rich and famous. These stories from relatives of celebrities are always entertaining. After all, celebrities on Reddit are common, but how often do you get to hear from those lucky enough to share DNA with today’s stars?
"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!"
"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."
"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."
"Related to Keanu Reeves. We have a Reeve's [sic] ohana gathering every year in Hawai'i 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."
"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!"
"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."
