Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have made a whole show out of the rumor they started about possibly being related.
Well, technically Kay McConaughey started it when she told her son and his longtime pal that she “knew” Harrelson’s dad.
“Everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after ‘knew,'” McConaughey shared on Kelly Ripa‘s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast in 2023. “It was a loaded K-N-E-W.”
The actors have really leaned into the bit with their new are-they-or-aren’t-they Apple TV comedy Brothers, in which they portray extra versions of themselves. And they continue to play coy, McConaughey telling E! News he’ll “probably end up” taking a DNA test one of these days.
But regardless of what those results show, their fraternal bond will remain strong, primarily the part where they mercilessly tease each other.
Because while McConaughey said his mother was “goading” Harrelson with her insinuation that she knew the Cheers alum’s father during the second of her two divorces from James McConaughey (before she married him for the third time), Harrelson thinks his pal is in denial.
“He doesn’t want to believe,” Harrelson said. “You got to do the whole sentence, ‘I don’t want to believe it’s true.’”
Apple TVIn the meantime, Hollywood is already chockablock with siblings, many of whom are easily identifiable—Baldwins, Fannings, Gyllenhaals, Hemsworths, Olsens, Wilsons—while others have chosen to operate under different names.
“We’re very close,” Shirley MacLaine, who was born Shirley Beaty, wrote of her relationship with younger brother Warren Beatty in her 2024 book The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories from This Marvelous Lifetime. “We don’t let that be known, but we’re very close.” (Incidentally, the internet has started noticing how much Beatty and Annette Bening‘s daughter Ella Beatty resembles her aunt.)
Also hiding in plain sight for decades are Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, the former of which started auditioning as Emilio Sheen before going back to his born surname, while the latter adopted their father Martin Sheen‘s chosen stage name.
“It was a much smoother father-son, Estevez-to-Sheen morph than the one Dad had suffered with his old man,” Charlie wrote in his 2025 memoir The Book of Sheen of the West Wing alum, born Ramon Estevez. “I told him how important it was to honor him by carrying the name forward.”
Then there’s the endless supply of sons and daughters operating under different last names than their famous parents. And if you start counting cousins, then showbiz is practically one big family tree. Plus, don’t even get us started on who’s related by marriage.
Kidding, we totally got started! Read on and prepare to be surprised by all the stars who are related:
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Valerie Terranova/Getty ImagesTaylor Dearden & Bryan Cranston
For Bryan Cranston‘s daughter Taylor Dearden, who went with mom Robin Dearden‘s maiden name to avoid the auto-link to her famous father, the actor’s life really is The Pitt.
Bruce Glikas/Getty ImagesDebbie Allen & Phylicia Rashad
The Famed actress-dancer-choreographer is the younger sister of the Cosby Show alum, who during the show’s first season was credited as Phylicia Ayers-Allen before she married sportscaster Ahmad Rashad in 1985.
John Salangsang/Shutterstock; Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/ShutterstockNancy Cartwright & Sabrina Carpenter
The Simpsons actor, who has voiced Bart since the show premiered in 1989, is the aunt of the “Espresso” singer.
“She’s not a blood relative,” Nancy clarified on a January 2026 episode of Toon’d In with Jim Cummings. “Her grandmother was married to my dad, so her dad was my stepbrother.”
And that family connection led to Nancy playing a pivotal role in Sabrina’s success.
“They would come out every year and stay with me,” she continued. “They lived with me for four months at a time during pilot season and helped her get management [and an] agent.”
The Emmy winner added, “She certainly doesn’t need my help. I gave her a little boost and she ran with it, and I’m very proud of her.”
Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images/Steve Granitz/FilmMagicLena Dunham & Larry David
On a 2024 episode of Finding Your Roots, host Henry Louis Gates Jr., revealed that Lena Dunham had a distant ancestor in common with Larry David on her mother’s side.
Astrid Stawiarz/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images/Instagram/Gypsy Rose BlanchardStassi Schroeder & Gypsy Rose Blanchard
Genealogist Dr. Adina Newman, known on Instagram as My Family Genie, revealed Blanchard and the Vanderpump Rules alum are allegedly related on their paternal grandmother’s side dating back all the way to the 1600s.
Schroeder, a self-professed true crime fan, commented on Newman’s post, “Omg I’m unwell.”
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Hollywood ReporterAntonio Banderas & Dakota Johnson
The Mask of Zorro star was married to the Fifty Shades of Grey actress’ mother Melanie Griffith for 20 years before they ultimately split in 2015, but that doesn’t mean the stepfather and daughter’s bond has been severed.
Johnson got emotional when she presented an award to Banderas at the 2019 Hollywood Film Awards.
“I come from a family of many a marriage and I got very lucky,” Johnson, whose dad is actor Don Johnson, said. “I got a bonus dad who I realized that, over time, is actually one of the most influential people in my whole life,” she said. “When I was six years old, my mother married a man who brought an unbelievably bright light and a whole new world of creativity and culture—and one remarkably magical little sister into our family.”
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