1.
Jon Hamm was Ellie Kemper’s high school drama teacher in Missouri. Years later, she began a one-person show in LA. “At that time, he was already famous on Mad Men,” she said. “I emailed him from our high school directory. I said, ‘Hey, I’m doing this show. I know you’re really busy, but it’d be great if you could come.’ And he came.”
2.
Steph and Ayesha Curry are godparents to Lindsay Lohan’s son, Luai. Apparently, Lindsay’s husband, Bader Shammas, is good friends with celebrity chef Michael Mina. He brought Lindsay and Ayesha together, as he thought they would hit it off, and he was right!
3.
Antonio Banderas is Dakota Johnson’s ex-stepfather (he was married to her mother, Melanie Griffith, from 1996 to 2015). However, they’ve seemingly maintained a close bond as he posted a selfie together last year. Antonio and Melanie also share daughter Stella, Dakota’s younger sister.
4.
Thanks to the PBS show Find Your Roots, RuPaul and Senator Cory Booker discovered they’re cousins. Both were happy about the news, and Cory later appeared on an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
5.
Rebel Wilson was the last of 16 students who studied acting in the US, thanks to a scholarship funded by Nicole Kidman at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney. “We’ve spoke about it since,” Rebel said. “I really did thank her, and I donated the money back to the college two years ago, so they can use it for all their current projects and new actors.”
6.
Lady Gaga is the godmother of Elton John and David Furnish’s two sons. When Elton was asked if he sang to the boys when they were younger, he said yes — but he wasn’t the only one. “Gaga, who’s their godmother, used to come and bathe them and sing them to bed.”
7.
John Boyega and Letitia Wright met at London’s Identity School of Acting and often went to McDonald’s. “After class, we’d meet up to discuss life, the future, and just inspiring each other,” she said. He added, “You haven’t changed. We always have life-changing conversations.”
8.
Mara Wilson (who you might remember as the little girl in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda) and conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro are cousins. In a 2019 tweet, she discussed cutting relatives “out of your life without any regret,” and many commenters presumed she was talking about Ben.
9.
Jamie Dornan and Eddie Redmayne were roommates before they found fame. They often hung out with Andrew Garfield and Robert Pattinson, helping each other with auditions and making tapes. Andrew said, “We were the kind of guys who would go to the Standard Hotel on Sunset Boulevard to play ping-pong and order one cocktail between us because we couldn’t afford any more.”
10.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Matt Damon ran lines together in a drama class at Harvard. “He’s not going to remember this, of course,” she said. “The reason why I remember it is because he was already kind of well-known around campus and off campus, so it was kind of exciting to be his scene partner for a particular class.”
11.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Hugh Grant are cousins. Though their great-grandmothers were sisters, they met for the first time on the set of Love Actually.
12.
Keanu Reeves knew Dolly Parton as a young boy because his mother, Patricia Taylor, was a costume designer. “She did a lot of sewing for me; she did a lot of my clothes,” Dolly said. “But I remember Keanu when he was just little. And she would bring him over to my house when we were fitting or when I would go to the shop where she worked.” Keanu’s mom designed Dolly’s iconic Playboy bunny costume, which he once wore as a Halloween costume.
13.
Brandy and Snoop Dogg are cousins. Of course, that makes Ray J (Brandy’s younger brother) Snoop’s cousin, too.
14.
Tia and Tamera Mowry babysat Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on the set of Full House. “My brother, he played Teddy, and so we would always go and visit the set,” Tia said. “We would actually babysit the Olsen twins … The producers that would hang around on the set, they’re like, ‘These girls, they’re so adorable.’ We even did a guest spot on Full House. It’s kind of where we got our first start.”
15.
Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson were roommates at UT Austin. They first met during a playwriting class, where Wes was struck by Owen openly reading the newspaper in the middle of seminars.
16.
While at Howard University, Chadwick Boseman was one of nine students who attended a summer exchange program at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford. Actor Phylicia Rashad, one of his teachers, asked her wealthy friends to sponsor the trip, and Denzel Washington was Chadwick’s benefactor. “The funny thing is, he showed up at the New York premiere of Black Panther,” Chadwick said. “I’m like, ‘It’s great to meet you. Big fan of your work. Just wanted to tell you thank you for paying for me to go to Oxford.’ He was like, ‘Oh, you owe me money!'”
17.
Pedro Pascal and Sarah Paulson were friends long before they became famous. While discussing the night they met, he said, “We had 40s in our hands, some people started to talk shit, and you were the first one ready to throw down on 10th Street. You didn’t even know me, and you were ready to jump into a thing.” Sarah responded, “That sounds about right.”
18.
Debbie Allen (who you might know from Grey’s Anatomy or Fame) is the younger sister of Phylicia Rashad.
19.
And finally, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale met before they were cast in High School Musical. “We actually worked together a year before in a Sears commercial,” Ashley said.
Know any other surprising celebrity connections? LMK in the comments below!
