Billy Crudup Finds Out He’s Related to Terry Crews – One of His Son’s Favorite Actors

Billy Crudup has been acting for more than three decades and has appeared in some high-profile films such as Almost Famous (2000), Big Fish (2003), and Mission: Impossible III (2006). While he has accomplished a lot in his career, nothing could’ve prepared him for what he learned about his ancestors. 

He recently appeared on the Season 9 finale of Finding Your Roots, where celebrities learn about their ancestral histories, and learned that he’s distant cousins with one of the most popular actors of this generation – Terry Crews. He was blown away at the discovery and had no idea how it could be true. 

“Get out of here! Are you kidding me?” he asked host Henry Louis Gates Jr. while on the show – adding that Crews is one of his son’s favorite actors. “He was on ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and when (my son) hears this, this will be by far the most exciting portion of this.” You never really know what history might reveal!

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Thank you all so much for tuning in each week. It means so much to everyone who makes our show happen and we appreciate you gathering around every Tuesday night for the amazing stories we get to spotlight in the series.

Watch last night’s episode now using the @PBS app! pic.twitter.com/DhEyfZaJDO

— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) April 5, 2023

The team at Finding Your Roots was able to make the discovery because Terry Crews and Billy Crudup share an identical stretch of DNA on their 16th chromosomes. “The evidence is inscribed on your 16th chromosome and as the brothers say on the street, ‘DNA don’t lie,’” the host explained to Crudup. 

Coincidentally, Terry Crews also appeared on the show during Season 8. The team discovered that 15% of Crews’ ancestors hailed from Europe and were from some of the same areas as Crudup’s ancestors – which hailed from Scotland, England, and Ireland. They shared an ancestor as much as 500 years ago. 

It didn’t take long for Crudup to make an interesting observation. “That’s incredible and the fact that the first (part) of his name is Crew, we’ve now got the Cru crew,” he said – referring to the similarity between Crews’ last name and his own last name. They have more in common than they could’ve ever known. 

Billy Crudup Learns More About His Ancestors

In addition to Billy Crudup discovering his relation to Terry Crews, he also learned that his fifth great grandfather played an important role in the 13 colonies declaring independence and the founding of a county in North Carolina. His name was Nathan Boddie and he was born in Virginia in 1732. 

In 1776, Boddie was one of the people who voted for the Halifax Resolves – which acted as the first official declaration of independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The resolution was adopted by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on April 12, 1776 – Boddie was 44 years old.

Crudup was surprised to learn how brave his fifth great grandfather was, considering he could’ve been killed if the British learned of his vote. Nonetheless, Boddie lived and went on to found a county in North Carolina – also serving time on the state’s legislature. Crudup was blown away at the discovery. 

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Finding Your Roots originally premiered in 2012 on PBS and has now been airing for nine seasons – a total of 95 episodes. They’re already preparing for Season 10, which is scheduled to premiere in early 2024 – previous seasons have aired around April-May, so stay tuned for more shocking discoveries!