26 Famous People Who Have Really Unexpected Connections

Find out how these stars are actually connected to each other…

1. Julia Roberts & Martin Luther King Jr.

Julia Roberts has a connection to Martin Luther King Jr. that goes all the way back to her birth. It all started when Coretta Scott King contacted Julia’s parents to ask if her children could attend their theater school. From there, the two couples developed a friendship and when the King family found out Julia’s parents couldn’t afford the hospital bill for her birth, they stepped in.

“My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop, and one day, Coretta Scott King called my mother and asked if her kids could be part of the school because they were having a hard time finding a place that would accept her kids. And my mom is like, ‘Sure, come on over.’ And so, they just all became friends,” Julia shared.

2. John Krasinski & BJ Novak

Former “The Office” co-stars John Krasinski and BJ Novak knew each other long before the show premiered. The pair actually first met when they were on the same little league team as kids and then went on to later attend the same high school.

“John Krasinski and I have known each other our whole lives in the weirdest, most coincidental way. We played little league together…We’ve known each other our whole lives,” BJ said on “The Ellen Show.”

3. Ed Sheeran & Jamie Foxx

When Ed Sheeran was just a broke musician trying to make it big, he got a helping hand from Jamie Foxx. After Ed approached Jamie about appearing on his radio show, which often featured up-and-coming artists, Jamie invited Ed to live at his home for six weeks while he worked on music in Los Angeles. He even got him a slot at an open mic night during which he performed in front of an audience of 800 other musicians.

“He plays on [the show] and is incredible so I said, ‘I know you don’t have anywhere to go so just chill here.’ I said, ‘Listen man, I think you got the goods but I got to check you out so I took him down to this show that I was doing, a live night every Monday night in Downtown LA…He went out there on a ukulele and got a standing ovation in 12 minutes and the rest was history,” Jamie said on “The Graham Norton Show.”

4. Jon Hamm & Ellie Kemper

Before Jon Hamm and Ellie Kemper were castmates in “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Jon was actually Ellie’s teacher. Before the actor made it big, he was a teacher at the high school Ellie attended. For a time, Ellie was in his drama class.

“In a room full of freshmen girls, he was definitely just as handsome back then. Having this grown, tall man teach you theater, it was like having a hunk in the class,” Ellie jokingly told The A.V. Club.

5. Demi Lovato & Selena Gomez

It may be common knowledge that Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez were BFFs during their Disney Channel days but not everyone knows they were actually first connected when they starred on “Barney” together as kids. The pair became friendly while they were waiting in line for their audition among 1,400 other kids — and they both coincidentally got cast in the show together.

“The wildest part of that story is that she was actually the girl standing in front of me. I remember she had a red bow on, I’ll never forget it…I just thought the world of her. And we both ended up, after we got the part, we didn’t know if the other one did. And we just had this, like, mini reunion when we saw each other,” Selena said on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast.

6. Elliot Page & Drake

Elliot Page attended the same high school as Drake growing up in Toronto and the pair actually knew each other. In fact, Drake once admitted that he used to tease Elliot in school and apologized for his actions. It appears that there were no hard feelings though as Elliot later tweeted Drake, jokingly asking him what he’d been up to since high school.

“Hey @Drake remember when we read @JoyceCarolOates ‘ Black Water in Dirk’s class. Good times. What have you been up to since high school?” Elliot wrote.

7. Lauryn Hill & Zach Braff

Lauryn Hill first met Zach Braff when they were just kids attending the same school together. Their friendship extended beyond the classroom though and Lauryn actually attended Zach’s bat mitzvah. They went on to commute to New York City together for auditions.

“Lauryn Hill was at my bar mitzvah. We would regularly commute from our high school in New Jersey into New York City for auditions,” Zach told Us Weekly.

8. Stanley Tucci & Emily Blunt

Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt’s relationship may have started off as co-stars but now they’re related. At the premiere of their film “The Devil Wears Prada,” Stanley met Emily’s sister Felicity. Nothing happened between the duo at that time but several years later, they reconnected at Emily’s wedding to John Krasinski. Stanley and Felicity tied the knot in 2012, making Stanley Emily’s brother-in-law.

9. Cameron Diaz & Snoop Dogg

Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg’s friendship goes all the way back to their time at Long Beach Polytechnic High School — where Cameron says she bought weed from Snoop on one occasion! Meanwhile, Snoop says he recalls Cameron being “fly” and friendly with his “cheerleading homegirls.”

“He was a year older than me. I remember him, he was very tall and skinny. He wore lots of ponytails. I’m pretty sure I bought weed from him!” Cameron once said on “Lopez Tonight.”

10. Mindy Kaling & Conan O’Brien

Before Mindy Kaling made it big, she worked as an intern for Conan O’Brien on his show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Looking back, she admits she probably wasn’t a very good intern because she mostly followed Conan around.

“It was so glamorous… I couldn’t believe how starstruck I was. It was my dream to be a guest on ‘Conan.’ It seemed too crazy to think about.. But I was also the worst intern that’s ever worked on the program…I wouldn’t do the things I was hired to do. I would kind of follow you around,” she later said on “Conan.”

11. Meghan Markle & Robin Thicke

As an aspiring actress, Meghan Markle worked at card and gift store Paper Source in Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2005. During that time, she taught calligraphy and reportedly wrote the invitations for Robin Thicke’s wedding to now ex-wife Paula Patton.

“It was her part-time job as she was going through auditions. She taught calligraphy and hosted a group of customers and instructed them during a two-hour class on how to do calligraphy,” Paper Source CEO, Winnie Park, told People.

12. Kiefer Sutherland & Gwyneth Paltrow

When Kiefer Sutherland was a young actor, he worked at a theater with Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother Blythe Danner. He says he even ended up babysitting a preteen Gwyneth Paltrow on a few occasions. Kiefer later said that when he saw Gwyneth’s acting career take off several years later, he thought she was a different person.

“I believe on a couple of occasions I was asked to look after her for an hour or two. I think it was very funny because it’s unbelievable how fast someone goes from 13 to 18, and obviously they look so different that when Gwyneth started to work, I thought, ‘Well, that must be another girl because I always remember her as being 11 or 12 years old,'” Kiefer once shared.

13. Bethenny Frankel & Paris Hilton

Long before “Real Housewives,” Bethenny Frankel used to work for Kathy Hilton as a nanny to her children Paris and Nicky. She says she got the job through her friendship with Kathy’s sister, Kyle Richards.

“Part of the job became coming, in my Ford Probe, to get you and Nicky from Lycée, this sort of fancy French school. And I remember, we’d go with Kyle to the Mobile Mart or the gas station after. And I would take you guys ice skating. Do you remember that? Because you were young,” Bethenny said on an episode of her podcast “Just B with Bethenny Frankel” that featured Paris.