Celebrities You Might Not Have Realized Were Related

Sometimes celebrities who happen to be relatives are irrevocably linked to each other. Think the Wayans brothers. Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith and their children Jaden and Willow. Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins from the old Super Friends cartoons. But on the other hand, there are times when you’re just living your life when you’re hit with some mind blowing news: Lily Collins is the daughter of Phil “It’s no stranger to you and me and then dramatic monster drum rift” Collins!? When celebrities never appear in anything together, have completely different last names, or even extremely common last names, it’s not always immediately obvious that they’re relatives. Here are 8 pairs (and one trio) of celebrities who you probably didn’t know were family.

1. Tom Cruise and William Mapother

Tom Cruise is everybody’s favorite actor/Scientology cult member. His first cousin, William Mapother, makes a living as a character actor on TV and in the movies. Aside from bit parts in several Cruise movies including Born on the Fourth of July, Magnolia, and Mission Impossible 2, Mapother is best known for his role as Ethan Rom, the main antagonist on the first season of Lost. Cruise’s father Tom III and William’s dad William Sr. were brothers. In fact, Cruise was actually born Thomas Mapother IV.

2. Julia and Emma Roberts

Many of us have aunts. Some of us might even have an Aunt Julia. A few have an aunt who happens to be named Julia Roberts. But only one person can say she is the niece of Julia Roberts. That would be Emma, the daughter of Julia’s brother Eric, also an actor. Julia and Eric were estranged for many years, due to his past struggles with drug addictions. But these days all is sunshine and rainbows in the Roberts family.

3. Jenny and Melissa McCarthy

Comedy runs in the family with these first-cousins. Former Playboy centerfold Jenny rose to fame in the mid-90s as co-host of the MTV dating game show Singled Out. She’s currently a judge on The Masked Singer. Melissa has made appearances in several movies including Bridesmaids and a terrible reboot of a beloved 80s movie, but let’s never speak of this again.