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Original poster

Which actor/actress were you surprised to discover is hugely connected?

458 replies

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 15:00

Kate Hudson - my god i had no idea her mum is Goldie Hawn

Just finished season 2 of Running Point (really good)

OP posts:
pompomtiddly · 06/05/2026 03:05

SALaw · 04/05/2026 23:46

Alexander Armstrong’s wife is the sister of Giles Coren’s wife, and Giles Coren’s sister is Victoria Coren Mitchell, married to David Mitchell.

Ànd Victoria Coren Mitchell’s dad was Alan Coren–a țeam captain on Call My Bluff…

GarlicMind · 06/05/2026 01:32

Bellasmellsofwee · 04/05/2026 15:28

One Example - Stath Lets Flats. most of the group who act/created that were all at uni together in the uni drama society.

See also the fast show.

Going all the way back to Monty python.

Same with Emma Thompson and that gang in the early 80s, French and Saunders etc.

It’s very much closed little groups of people.

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I think it's pretty reasonable that 20-year-olds who were in bands, drama clubs, etc, will go on together to build a career from where they started.

It does seem to help if you were at Cambridge or St Martin's, though ...

WaryHiker · 06/05/2026 01:19

Tabitha005 · 05/05/2026 19:03

I was delighted when I found out that the actors who played Roger Sterling and Moira in ‘Mad Men’ were actually a couple in real life - they’re SO cool!

Mona Stirling's actress used to be married to George Clooney!

WaryHiker · 06/05/2026 01:17

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 05/05/2026 22:02

Shirley said that she was the only actress in LA, who hadn’t slept with Warren!

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Was Annette Bening already famous when she married Warren Beatty?

AncientGleek · 05/05/2026 23:30

BleedinglyObvious · 05/05/2026 00:39

Michele Dotrice's husband was Edward Woodward.

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Michele and Karen's parents were both actors too Roy Dotrice and Kay Newman.

Then you have the Cusack family - father Cyril has 6 children, 4 daughters who are all actresses (Sinead, Sorcha, Niamh and Catherine) and a son Pádraig who is a theatre producer. Sinead is married to Jeremy Irons and their son Max is also an actor, Niamh is married to Finbar Lynch and their son Calam played Theo in Bridgerton, AJ in Sweetpea and Max in What It Feels Like For A Girl.

Partickthistle · 05/05/2026 22:57

Bellasmellsofwee · 04/05/2026 18:41

I don’t mean that. I was a writer/comedian for years. But I got nowhere as I was always blocked as I wasn’t part of any of the cliques. “What I were you at?” Was always the first question.

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"What I were you at"???

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 05/05/2026 22:04

Dinosaurhearmeroar · 05/05/2026 19:16

Julia Dreyfus - billionaire’s daughter and knows everyone.

She is a great comic actress though, to be fair.

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 05/05/2026 22:02

CoffeeCantata · 04/05/2026 16:51

I've never got my head round the fact that Shirley McLaine and Warren Beatty are siblings.

Can't for the life of me see any resemblance.

And Gary Oldman and that actress from Eastenders....er, sorry - can't remember her name (duh).

Shirley said that she was the only actress in LA, who hadn’t slept with Warren!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 05/05/2026 21:11

ConnieHeart · 05/05/2026 19:08

Is one of them still in Call The Midwife?

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I don't believe the McGann brothers had any connections in the industry but I daresay as each of them got started casting directors and others may have remembered the name and the fact that there were four brothers. Stephen McGann has struck lucky by being married to Heidi Thomas who came up with the idea for Call the Midwife, i.e. adapting the books and writing other episodes set in the same period. She's written most of the scripts over the innumerable series since and the parts played by Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) and his on screen wife and children have got bigger and bigger, oddly enough.

Yokodoko · 05/05/2026 21:08

I was thinking more of Helena BC being related to Florence Nightingale 😃

Newmumatlast · 05/05/2026 20:57

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 15:55

They look far too similar, and have the same surname and unusual first name - theres no way its a coincidence!

And the girl is a good actress! Shes really good as lily, Stacey's daughter

Like just admit it, you won't die 😄

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They're not related but Laceys sister Lilly was in Eastenders as Shanice Quinn

Karistyleaftea · 05/05/2026 20:43

Denise Welch and Tim Healey have 2 sons,
Matty Healey frontman of the 1975 and Louis Healy who has acted in Emmerdale and Vera.
If anyone remembers the Primrose Hill set , lots of connections there.

BooneyBeautiful · 05/05/2026 20:30

QueenOfHiraeth · 04/05/2026 15:45

It's bad enough that acting, TV, etc is such a closed shop but now we are supposed to believe they are all incredibly talented novelists or children's authors in their spare time!
I wonder if an ordinary person wrote any of the celeb books that top the charts, would they even get published?

J K Rowling was an unknown with no connections.

asdbaybeeee · 05/05/2026 20:28

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 20:05

Greg Wise was already a very well known actor when he met Emma, and Travis Kelce was a famous footballer when he met Taylor.

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I know I just really didn’t want to just list women. Tbf their marriages/future marriage raised their profiles.

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 20:05

asdbaybeeee · 05/05/2026 09:09

Then there’s all the people who marry someone and become famous through that - Rosie Ramsey, Emma Willis, Gio Fletcher, Greg wise travis kelce, Bobby (Katherine Ryan’s husband)

Greg Wise was already a very well known actor when he met Emma, and Travis Kelce was a famous footballer when he met Taylor.

BleedinglyObvious · 05/05/2026 20:03

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 19:59

They’re half sisters with the same dad, they don’t have the same mum?

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Eve Pollard is Claudia's mother, she has a son who is Claudia's half-brother.
Sophie's shares a father with Claudia.

ConnieHeart · 05/05/2026 20:03

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 19:59

They’re half sisters with the same dad, they don’t have the same mum?

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Whoops. I kind of jumped in as I knew Claudia & Eve were related

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 19:59

ConnieHeart · 05/05/2026 08:02

And their mum is Eve Pollard

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They’re half sisters with the same dad, they don’t have the same mum?

Sassoon · 05/05/2026 19:54

DrWhosJazzyScarf · 04/05/2026 15:58

Jamie Demetriou is Steve Coogan’s son in law too!

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And the brother of the vampire woman in What We Do in the Shadows!

kerstina · 05/05/2026 19:27

ConnieHeart · 05/05/2026 14:30

I think Kate Moss has a fairly non descript face. There are many more beautiful women than her, but her & her daughter have quite elfin features & are almost a blank canvas and all their features fit together well. I actually think her daughter is quite beautiful in a not too obvious way and there's no doubt the camera loves them (wish I could say the same about me. I always think I look OK but quickly change my mind when I see recent photos!)

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I didn’t used to rate Kate moss . We all have our own ideas of beauty and I thought Brooke shields was it . However I saw a video of Kate moss chatting and laughing in her hey day and she looks so much more beautiful as it showed her bone structure and cheekbones and personality . So much more than a blank still shot of her.

IsEveryUserNameBloodyTaken · 05/05/2026 19:24

treeposer2 · 04/05/2026 15:20

Big Mo and Sirius Black are siblings. Wild.

Yeah was amazed when I found out about Gary Oldman and Big Mo

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 19:16

Darrara · 04/05/2026 15:45

It makes it easier if you’re connected, sure, but it’s not the norm for most novelists I know. The best most people are going to do is get an agent recommendation from their creative writing teacher, and even that’s only a matter of avoiding the slushpile — they won’t necessarily sign you.

The ‘celebrity who also writes novels on the side’ like Graham Norton, Tom Hanks, Richard Osman, David Williams etc is a different matter. They already have an agent and a readymade, interested audience, which makes them appealing to publishers..

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My cousin was an author, wrote humorous non fiction and was no1 in the Times Best Seller list - not connected to anyone.

Dinosaurhearmeroar · 05/05/2026 19:16

Julia Dreyfus - billionaire’s daughter and knows everyone.

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 19:14

Bellasmellsofwee · 04/05/2026 15:32

It’s not the norm though. I mean, well done, but it’s not the usual way.

Sure there are loads of small time actors etc. but to hit the big time, you need the connections. And be willing to do some seriously dodgy shit.

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What about Stephen Graham and Dexter Fletcher?

Donsyb · 05/05/2026 19:11

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 15:25

I wonder who among the current lot of British actors comes from this kind of background

I suspect Leo Wooddall - his accent in The White Lotus was off 😫, as handsome and good as he is

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Yes his dad is quite a well known actor

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