10 Times Celebs Discovered Eerie Coincidences with Their Ancestors

10 Times Celebrities Discovered Remarkable Coincidences with Their Ancestors

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at celebrities who learned that their stories have an eerie parallel to the stories of their ancestors.

Won't You Be My Cousin?

Tom Hanks

It always seemed like destiny for Tom Hanks to play fellow beloved screen icon Fred Rogers. Then Access Hollywood blindsided him at the New York premiere of the 2019 biopic “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Their research showed that Hanks’s ancestor Jacob Mefford served alongside his brother William in the American Revolution. The bloodline William sired would yield a certain children's TV host. Hanks was stunned to discover that he just played his own distant cousin. It's less surprising that both men are American heroes by heritage. And with Hanks’s son Colin playing Rogers in a “Drunk History” skit, maybe we should give casting directors more credit for spotting family resemblances.

Modern Family (for the Time)

Sarah Hyland

Oftentimes, art unintentionally imitates life. On a 2023 episode of the Ancestry web series “2 Lies & a Leaf,” Sarah Hyland is informed that her great-grandmother Leona Hawkins was a hat maker and party girl. It wasn't enough that this sounded like Haley Dunphy, the troublemaking fashionista Hyland played on “Modern Family.” Leona’s sister Lucy was a physician and entrepreneur, as academic as Haley’s sister Alex. It looks like this contrast of personalities between sisters wasn't so farcical after all. Host Jackie Tohn actually pointing out “a real-life Haley and Alex” nonetheless had Hyland tickled.

Youngstown

Ed O’Neill

It's a small world, no matter how worldly a family gets in a century. Actor Ed O’Neill was eager to dig into his Irish roots in a 2024 episode of “Finding Your Roots.” He was surprised to learn that his ancestors first settled in Youngstown, Ohio, the very place where he was born and raised. They were also fleeing the Great Famine of the 19th century, and lived hard in the early days of the coal mining town. And you thought Al Bundy had a rough home life? Certainly, O’Neill gained a greater appreciation for family after he learned what his went through to get him from Ohio to Hollywood.

A Glorious Heritage

Matthew Broderick

Audiences gained a new respect for Matthew Broderick after he starred in the 1989 Civil War epic “Glory.” And he gained a new respect for the subject after his 2011 appearance on the American version of “Who Do You Think You Are?”. This was how he discovered that his great-great-grandfather, Robert Martindale, served a New England regiment in the American Civil War. It’s not the wildest coincidence that Broderick played Colonel Robert Shaw of Massachusetts, as common as that name and service in that war were. The actor was still moved by Martindale’s courage and the idea that he could have brought it to the screen.

“We Know What We Are, but Know Not What We May Be”

Judi Dench

In 1957, Judi Dench made her professional acting debut as Ophelia in an Old Vic Company production of “Hamlet.” It turns out this Danish noblewoman was a role she was born to play. Visiting the royal estate of Kronborg for a 2021 episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?”, the British Dame learned that she comes from Danish nobility as far back as the 16th century. They were welcomed in the castle which would inspire Elsinore in Shakespeare’s legendary play. Having always wanted to visit Kronborg, Dench was deeply moved by this introduction. Perhaps the lady-in-waiting in her family would be moved to know that her descendant moved up to the role of Queen Gertrude in 1989.

A Hexed Lineage

Sarah Jessica Parker

Audiences were bewitched by the immortal Sarah Sanderson in the 1993 cult comedy “Hocus Pocus.” While preparing for the sequel almost 30 years later, actress Sarah Jessica Parker learned on “Who Do You Think You Are?” that she’s really linked to the Salem Witch Trials. Ancestor Esther Elwell of Gloucester, Massachusetts was charged with witchcraft over a woman’s mysterious illness and death. Parker was just glad to be related to an accused witch instead of an accuser. Thankfully, the witch trials were banned just in time for Elwell to avoid execution. Not to make accusations, but we’d like to know if she bore a suspicious resemblance to Parker.

A Canadian Dynasty

Justin Bieber

Maybe it's valid that singer Justin Bieber was once considered the face of Canadian pop culture. And that's not just because of the good looks. In 2019, an Ancestry.com test linked his French immigrant roots to Mathurin Roy and Marguerite Biré. They’d never know the impact that their lineage would have on the culture they settled in. Bieber is a distant cousin to fellow singers Celine Dion and Avril Lavigne, and actor Ryan Gosling. Bieber posted his findings on Instagram on what he described as “the best day of [his] life.” Let's trust that it was topped by him adding another branch to a star-studded family tree in 2024.

A Royal Role

Benedict Cumberbatch

It's an honor for any actor to play the title role in Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” For the great Benedict Cumberbatch, his BAFTA-nominated performance on the show “The Hollow Crown” was more like fate. He had just been cast in 2015 when historian Kevin Schürer found evidence that Cumberbatch is a distant cousin of the real Richard III. Granted, the King’s siblings have millions of descendants in England alone. But the uniquely close Cumberbatch told Radio Times that he was thrilled to receive the news, and during a costume fitting no less. It certainly enhanced the honor of playing Richard, as well as reading a poem at a ceremony to bury his recently recovered remains.

Ancestral Neighbors

Elaine Hendrix and Lisa Ann Walter

Since meeting on the set of 1998’s “The Parent Trap,” Elaine Hendrix and Lisa Ann Walter have described themselves as life partners more than best friends. Walter’s 2023 episode of the Ancestry web series “unFamiliar” proved that it goes even deeper than that. Hendrix herself appeared to deliver the news that her and Walter’s respective great-grandfathers grew up just a block away from each other on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan. Walter was blown away, but Hendrix brushed it off as just a trick of fate. While we may never know whether they're directly associated, these actresses’ friendship really is one of the most profound in showbiz.

The Two Emmas

Julia Roberts

From Cousin Edward Norton to not even being biologically connected to her surname, Julia Roberts made more incredible discoveries than “Finding Your Roots” could fit in a 2023 episode. Perhaps the most incredible was saved for a bonus clip released online. Roberts’s first ancestor who emigrated from Sweden was named Emma, like Roberts’s actress niece. And both Emmas share a birthday on February 10. As baffled as Roberts was by this information, it's also baffling that her niece never publicly commented on it. After all, there’s no comparing the reaction to a wild story that we all have in our ancestries.

What are some other fun facts about celebrities’ ancestry? Take us back in the comments below.