17 Random Connections Between Gen Z Stars And Older Famous People

You might imagine Hollywood as the high school cafeteria in Mean Girls with each cast, family, or friend group at their own table. However, it's actually more like the "We're All in This Together" scene in High School Musical, where the different "cliques" intermingle in new and surprising ways.

Here are 17 Gen Z celebs with strange and surprising Hollywood connections:

1.Sabrina Carpenter's aunt is Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson in The Simpsons.

Nancy also voiced Rufus (the naked mole rat) in Kim Possible.

2.Lori Harvey, Steve Harvey's daughter, has a dating life that's often the subject of intense speculation. She had to deny rumors that she dated both Diddy and his son, Justin Combs.

She told E! News, "I've heard I dated a father and son before. Absolutely not true. ... So, you know, there's been a lot of different things, a lot of stories, a lot of misconceptions."

3.At the High School Musical 2 premiere in 2007, 6-year-old Kaia Gerber met 19-year-old Vanessa Hudgens, who dated Austin Butler from 2011 to 2020. His next girlfriend was Kaia.

4.When Universal was planning a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, Maya Hawke was reportedly director Sofia Coppola's choice for the lead. However, the studio's wariness about casting a newcomer allegedly caused tensions that led to Sofia leaving the project over "creative differences."

The part initially went to Chloë Grace Moretz, but production has not yet commenced.

5.In 2015, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham reportedly broke up with Chloë Grace Moretz because he had a crush on Selena Gomez. In 2023, Selena became close friends with Brooklyn and his wife, Nicola Peltz Beckham, and joked about being in a "throuple" with them on Instagram.

6.When Sofia Richie was 14, her brother-in-law — Good Charlotte's Joel Madden — helped her record music in the studio. However, she's never released songs professionally.

She told Billboard, "It was the best I could have asked for, but there was too much pressure. Everyone had their own idea of what my music should sound like, and I just wanted to be an individual. I stepped back and said, 'I need to re-evaluate this.'"

7.Millie Bobby Brown has been dating Jon Bon Jovi's son, Jake Bongiovi, since late 2021.

They met through Instagram.

8.In 2017, Hunter Schafer interviewed Hillary Clinton for Teen Vogue.

It was part of the cover story for Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 Class of 2017, which honored Hunter's activism.

9.Mckenna Grace has famously played the younger version of many actors, including Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Jennifer Morrison (Once Upon a Time), and Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

10.Before he was famous, Lil Nas X ran a Nicki Minaj stan account on Twitter.

He initially denied running the account because he worried about outing himself as gay.

On Twitter, he said, "People will assume if you had an entire fan page dedicated to Nicki, you are gay. And the rap/music industry ain't exactly built or accepting of gay men yet."

11.Felix Mallard feels like he "owe[s] a lot of [his] career" to Harry Styles because the first American role he booked was a character based on Harry in Happy Together.

Felix told Deadline, "I think the fact that it was based on Harry Styles was this crazy anecdote, and I could barely believe it. I still can’t really believe that ever happened."

12.Kiernan Shipka shares an agent with Viola Davis.

13.From 2018 to 2019, Tana Mongeau was in a polyamorous relationship with Mod Sun and Bella Thorne — who both released diss tracks about her on the same day.

Mod's song about Tana was called "Karma," and Bella's was called "SFB (Stupid Fucking Bitch)."

14.In 2015, Charlotte D'Alessio's Coachella pictures went viral after The Weeknd reposted them on Instagram. The attention landed her a modeling contract.

15.When Sadie Sink was little, she met Taylor Swift backstage at a concert. Years later, she starred in Taylor's debut short film, All Too Well: The Short Film.

16.Rachel Zegler was named after Jennifer Aniston's Friends character, Rachel Green.

17.In 2013, Chloe and Halle Bailey's cover of Beyoncé's "Pretty Hurts" went viral and landed them a record deal with Parkwood Entertainment, which Beyoncé owns.