Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have always been close but it turns out the two buddies are actually distant cousins. Read more below!

The New England Historic Genealogical Society revealed that the good friends are actually 10th cousins once removed. Affleck and Damon share a common 10th great-grandfather, William Knowlton of Ipswich. Ipsich was a bricklayer who died in 1655.

“We suspected they might be related since both of them had ancestry going back to colonial New England,” said geneologist Chris Child, who did the research along with colleague Rhonda McClure .

Matt and Ben are related on their fathers’ side, said McClure.

So you may be asking yourselves why did they decide to even research these two actors?

“I saw Ben filming in Copley Square last week and I started to wonder,” said McClure, who has done celebrity geneology research for A & E TV network. “That’s the thing about geneology, you wonder if you can do it, then you start to play around with it . . . .”

They also found out that Ben Affleck also is related to Princess Diana and 16 presidents, including Barack Obama .

“Ben is an 11th cousin to Obama,” Child said. “We just found that connection this week. They share a common ancestor in the Hinckley family of Cape Cod.”

Matt Damon is reportedly related to six or seven U.S. presidents, he added.

No comments from either actor but the news is quite interesting!

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Images: Wenn.com

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