Celebrities Talk About Coming From Huge Families

Conan O’Brien’s decades-long career in writing and late night television began with a deep interest in journalism and desire to entertain. The interviewing skills he has displayed as a TV and podcast host were honed early on when he would comically “interview” his three brothers and two sisters. On the YouTube channel Podcrushed, O’Brien even reacted to a childhood clip of himself interviewing his sister Kate about softball. As he acknowledged, his developing sense of comedic timing is on full display:

Conan: ‘I hear you're pretty good.'

Kate: ‘Oh, a lot of people have heard that, you know, they've heard it.

Conan: 'They've heard it mostly from you, I hear.' 

While his brothers pursued careers in other fields such as law, his sister Jane went into screenwriting, while Kate pursued acting and has starred alongside actors such as Amy Adams. 

While fans of SNL veteran Bill Murray may be aware of his older brother and fellow actor Brian Doyle-Murray, fewer know that the pair in fact have seven other siblings. Among the siblings, there have been three others who pursued acting; Andy, who became a renowned chef; and Nancy, who became a nun after graduating high school.

Though Murray has had a positive relationship with his family, he acknowledges the sheer number of siblings left him regularly feeling forgotten growing up:

There was a lot of competition for our dad’s attention. He would be at work all day and you only saw him for a couple of hours every night. At the dinner table you had to throw something out there, so that sort of sharpened your game. You were in this competitive world competing for attention. Because you can be the forgotten middle child of three; you can be the forgotten child of five, and believe me you can certainly be the forgotten middle child of nine.

While his twin sister Rachel is his only full sibling, 24 star Kiefer Sutherland also has three half-brothers as a result of father Donald’s second marriage. Sutherland and his sister were raised principally by their mother after their parents separated.

Sutherland's relationship with his father’s subsequent children - who all incidentally also pursued careers in entertainment as actors and producers - has not been something he discusses much. His sister, on the other hand, has long been close to him: 

Being a twin taught me the value of having a companion. Every time I experienced something I could turn to my left and share it. When I was having my first child I said to my mother, ‘My gosh you had two at the same time.’ She said, ‘Oh, sweetheart, it was fine. By the time you were two you were looking after each other.’ She made it sound like she’d got a deal, which always made me laugh. My sister Rachel and I are incredibly close.

The Wahlberg siblings are not limited to just actors and former New Kids On The Block band members Mark and Donnie. There are nine Whalbergs in total, with Mark being the youngest.

While his relationships with them have been fairly positive, Wahlberg admitted that his family did struggle financially: 

Well, there was a lot of us, but being the youngest of nine wasn’t odd. It was common where I grew up. My parents were like everyone else and spent their time just trying to put a lot of food on the table, which wasn’t easy because my Dad drove a truck and my mom worked as a nurse’s aide.

Joaquin Phoenix has enjoyed a largely successful career in Hollywood since he began acting in 1982; his late brother River achieved stardom as well. They and their three other siblings were moved around the world by their religiously-motivated parents John and Arlyn Phoenix. Over time they were pushed into acting following their various successes singing in public and in competitions.

While not all of the surviving siblings have continued acting, they have all lent their voices to various causes such as animal welfare. On the nature of their relationship, Phoenix has said:

I had a really wonderful upbringing. We were a tight family. It was wonderful to grow up with so many siblings. We were all just a year or two apart, and we were always so supportive of each other. I learned everything from my older brother and sister and taught it to my younger sisters.

Stephen Colbert was the last of eleven children born to Lorna and James Colbert. The family was marked by tragedy when James, along with Stephen's second and third youngest brothers, were killed in a plane crash. With the remaining siblings out in the world on their own, this left Colbert and his mother to cope with their grief.

Despite the tragedy, Colbert's relationship with his siblings before and after was a balanced one. As he stated in their mother’s eulogy: 

No fight between siblings could end without hugs and kisses, although hugs never needed a reason in her house. Singing and dancing was encouraged except at the dinner table.