--- ---  # WATCH: Brad Pitt Might Be Your (Distant) Cousin by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Jun 23, 2014 2:11 PM UTC  Actor Brad Pitt arrives on the red carpet for the 84th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood, Actor Brad Pitt arrives on the red carpet for the 84th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood,Frederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Jun 23, 2014 2:11 PM UTC Wouldn’t it be nice to see Brad Pitt at your next family reunion? According to author A.J. Jacobs, you might be related to many of the beautiful faces you see on the big screen. That is, very distantly related. Jacobs says we all have famous and historical people in our family trees because we’re all connected through blood or marriage. In several years, according to Jacobs, we could have a family tree that connects all 7 billion on earth, which he calls an “unprecedented history of the human race.” One Big Family: Author Details How We’re All in the Same Family Tree ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2911581/family-tree-genealogy-aj-jacobs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2911581/family-tree-genealogy-aj-jacobs/"},"headline":"WATCH: Brad Pitt Might Be Your (Distant) Cousin","datePublished":"2014-06-23T14:11:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:11:02.100Z","description":"According to author A.J. Jacobs, you might be related to many of the beautiful faces you see on the big screen","url":"https://time.com/2911581/family-tree-genealogy-aj-jacobs/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Family"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6596c492d89cd2aa/698698d013c79fa0bd192c48/brad_pitt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6596c492d89cd2aa/698698d013c79fa0bd192c48/brad_pitt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actor Brad Pitt arrives on the red carpet for the 84th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood,","caption":"Actor Brad Pitt arrives on the red carpet for the 84th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood,","creditText":"Frederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2911581/family-tree-genealogy-aj-jacobs/","name":"WATCH: Brad Pitt Might Be Your (Distant) Cousin"}}]}] ```