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Sydney Sweeney Has a Surprising Family Connection to This Hollywood Icon
Sydney Sweeney shares DNA with another iconic blonde bombshell: Marilyn Monroe.
Indeed, the Housemaid actress and the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star are related, with Monroe being revealed as Sweeney’s ninth cousin once removed, according to a newly released study by MyHeritage.
The pair are connected through Sweeney’s father Steven Sweeney and Monroe’s biological father Charles Stanley Gifford, and share an ancestor named Ezra Perry, a settler of Sandwich, Mass.
Fans have long compared the Euphoria actress to Monroe—who died in 1962—which prompted MyHeritage to look at their family trees.
“People have always drawn parallels between Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe,” MyHeritage Director of Research Roi Mandel said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, “but seeing their paths align on a deeper level inspired us to look for a real bond in the MyHeritage archives.”
Describing the discovery as “incredible,” Mandel added that “it’s a powerful reminder that humanity is one vast family tree, and when we dig deep, we uncover how remarkably interconnected we all are.”
And while Sweeney has yet to comment on her newly revealed relative—or address the comparisons between her and Monroe—she’s undoubtedly drawn inspiration from Monroe on more than one occasion.
After all, in February, the Madame Web actress seemingly paid homage to Monroe when she wore a white Ceil Chapman gown at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, with the look appearing to be a replica of the gown Monroe wore on her legendary 1952 LIFE magazine cover.
And just a few months prior, Sweeney channeled Monroe when she wore a white Galia Lahav gown featuring a plunging neckline and full skirt at the Los Angeles premiere of The Housemaid in December 2025. The red carpet moment was speculated to be inspired by Monroe’s iconic dress from the Seven Year Itch subway grate scene.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Frank Povolny/Twentieth Century Fox/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Imag
Though Monroe notoriously had a troubled childhood before she reached superstardom, Sweeney has previously shared how her parents supported her acting career—and made sacrifices to do so—while she grew up in Washington state.
“I had no connections. I did not come from money,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2022. “And when you’re 16 and you don’t really like yourself, and you’re trying to figure out what the hell is going on in your body and your makeup and your hormones, and people are telling you that you’re not good enough—that weight is so heavy. But I had parents who, no matter what, believed in me.”
To see more stars like Sweeney and Monroe who have been revealed to be relatives, keep reading…
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Valerie Terranova/Getty Images
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