10+ People Revealed What’s Like to Be Related to Someone Famous

In the realm of personal stories, those related to famous people might take the cake. And well, some family members of celebrities, whether close or distantly related, aren’t shy about sharing online their experiences with them.

• My wife is a distant relative of Tom Hanks. It doesn’t affect her at all. If affects me because she reminds me of it every time he is mentioned on the TV. © MulletOnFire / Reddit
• My spouse is related to David Tennant. I didn’t know this until after we were married (as my spouse was born in America). It hasn’t 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. My spouse had a brief chat about mutual acquaintances in the family, and then we left. © LJGHunter / Reddit
• 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. © Unknown author / Reddit

• Matthew McConaughey is my second cousin. He acts normal with us, but he has yet to deliver me a Buick for the hooligan I defended him against 38 years ago. Though he does always bring the best drinks to the parties. © drycheck / Reddit
• I’m related to Kings of Leon, the band, through marriage. They’re a 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. © GabberFlasm / Reddit
• 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, and I had never heard of him. He was just lovely, like a grandpa you would love to have. Very humble and normal house.
  My ex’s mom 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. © Unknown author / Reddit

• I’m relatively closely related to J. K. Rowling, and to be honest it doesn’t affect anything at all. At family gatherings, 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! © jack_hughez / Reddit
• 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. © thesaucyboss29 / Reddit
• My dad’s cousin is Stephen Tobolowsky, an actor with a couple of hundred IMDb entries who is currently playing a role in one of my favorite TV shows. I’ve met him 3 times, he lives in LA and every time he comes back to town, one of my uncles will throw a dinner party for him and the entire extended family will show up. It’s really the only thing that can make that happen. Really nice guy though, great storyteller. © ElToberino / Reddit

• I’m related to Keanu Reeves. We have a Reeves’ family gathering every year in Hawai’i, and he never comes. 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 because 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. © Aeksel / Reddit
• My wife is childhood friends with the 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 drink 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. © spacemanspiff30 / Reddit
• I’m related (distantly) to Elvis Presley. Went to the Presley family reunion years back. It was awful. They tried to get me to pay $20 for a plate of food. At a family reunion!
  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. © Unknown author / Reddit

People often take to social media to share their stories, even the spookiest ones. A few folks revealed online strange situations they experienced that defied any logical explanation. For some, it even shook their own beliefs.