Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson Officially Confirmed to Be Related to Marilyn Monroe

New research from MyHeritage identifies Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson as distant cousins of Marilyn Monroe, uncovering an unexpected connection between two modern Hollywood stars and the screen legend. The study identifies Sweeney as Monroe’s ninth cousin once removed, while Johnson is her ninth cousin three times removed. The discovery adds an intriguing wrinkle to two actresses whose careers have already intersected with Monroe’s legacy. Sweeney has repeatedly attracted comparisons to the Hollywood icon through her red-carpet fashion, while Johnson recently portrayed a version of Monroe in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short film Flesh Impact.

Neither connection implies a close family relationship, but the historical link gives those parallels an unexpected genealogical foundation.

Sydney Sweeney Shares Marilyn Monroe’s Ancestry

Credits: Apple TV

The MyHeritage investigation traces Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe to a common ancestor, Ezra Perry (circa 1625–1689), an early English settler in Sandwich, Massachusetts. That makes them ninth cousins once removed, a relationship separated by numerous generations rather than a direct line of descent. The Hollywood Reporter details the ancestral connection. The revelation is particularly curious given how frequently Sweeney has been compared to Monroe. At the December 2025 premiere of The Housemaid, Sweeney wore a white dress reminiscent of Monroe’s legendary windblown appearance in Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch (per PEOPLE).

She subsequently leaned into another vintage Hollywood look at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, wearing a Ceil Chapman gown resembling Monroe’s appearance on April 1952 cover of LIFE. MyHeritage research director Roi Mandel explained that those comparisons helped inspire the investigation. “People have always drawn parallels between Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe,” he said, adding that researchers wanted to determine whether a genuine ancestral connection existed. The Hollywood Reporter carries his statement.

Being ninth cousins hardly means Sweeney inherited Monroe’s talent, but the coincidence is rather amusing. After years of embracing Old Hollywood glamour, she turns out to have an actual family connection to the icon. Sweeney has not portrayed Monroe onscreen, although her recent career has demonstrated an appetite for complicated women. Her work in Euphoria and The Housemaid has pushed her beyond the glamorous image that initially dominated conversations about her. The comparison now comes with a historical footnote rather than merely a fashion reference.

Dakota Johnson Played Her Famous Relative

Dakota Johnson’s connection to Monroe is even more serendipitous. MyHeritage identifies the Verity actress as Monroe’s ninth cousin three times removed, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s October 8 report. Unlike Sweeney, Johnson has already portrayed her distant relative. In Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Flesh Impact, Johnson plays Monroe at the height of her fame, while Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn portrays an imagined older version of the actress. The short premiered at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, coinciding with the centenary of Monroe’s birth. Gyllenhaal’s film explores a tantalizing question: what might Monroe’s life and career have become had she lived beyond 36?

Speaking to Vanity Fair, the filmmaker wondered what Monroe might have accomplished with another six decades, describing her performances as an unusual combination of joy and emotional turbulence. The reported family connection adds an unexpected dimension to Gyllenhaal’s casting, particularly since the director ultimately preferred Johnson’s own performance to an AI-generated resemblance.

Their distant family connection makes Johnson’s casting even more interesting, especially since Gyllenhaal reportedly knew nothing about it. While Sweeney has celebrated Monroe through fashion and Old Hollywood glamour, Johnson has focused on portraying the woman behind the fame. The distant family connections say nothing about artistic talent, but they add a curious new chapter to Monroe’s enduring influence on Hollywood. And now, thanks to MyHeritage, that enduring influence comes with a genuine, if remarkably distant, family connection.

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