Famous Cousins: Did You Know These Stars Were Related?

Yahoo Celebrity Contributors

Because July 24 marks National Cousins Day, we decided to take a look at some of Hollywood’s famous cousins.

Jenny McCarthy and Melissa McCarthy may be household names now, but back in the day, these megastars were just your average cousins living in the Chicagoland area. In 2015, the former Playboy Playmate shared an adorable throwback pic with the caption, “Me, my sis, and my cousin Melissa. 102 degrees at the zoo, not happy campers.”

During an interview with People magazine, the 43-year-old explained that she helped the Ghostbusters star get her feet wet in Hollywood. “When she was starting out, I was fortunate enough to be in a position to get her a job on a show I was doing, to learn the ropes and get some experience on a TV set in front of the camera and behind the scenes,” she said.

In 2011, Al Roker revealed that he and rock star Lenny Kravitz are first cousins once removed. “I am Lenny Kravitz’s cousin,” he told Us Weekly. “By admitting this in public, I forfeit a monthly stipend to keep this fact quiet.”

Music runs in the family for Snoop Dogg and Brandy. “Brandy’s my first cousin. We never really told the world because we weren’t trippin’ off of that, but that’s my family,” the rapper told MTV in 2006.

Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, and Jason Schwartzman are all cousins on the Coppola family tree. During a 2010 interview with NPR’s Fresh Air, Jason recalled watching Nic’s 1988 film Vampire’s Kiss at a young age and feeling inspired.

“That was a big thing for me,” he said. “I loved his performance. And even though, like I say, I wasn’t an actor, once we got the film on VHS I would watch it over and over again. … I would rewind certain scenes and I would play them, pause them, and then try to mimic him; and then rewind it, play it again, and try to mimic him until I could do his voice and knew the lines by heart.”

Check out the video to find out more stars with famous cousins, and tune in to The Insider With Yahoo on TV tonight for the latest in entertainment news.