It turns out the Massachusetts-born actress (via Boston.com) has some distant relations to comedian, actress, producer, and author Rosie O'Donnell. Bridget Moynahan's parents are both Irish (via Ethnic Celebs), as are O'Donnells.
Apparently, the news was a surprise for O'Donnell, and Moynahan explained their familial ties on The View in the mid-2000s. O'Donnell's grandfather was Moynahan's grandmother's brother (via Boston Herald). The third-cousins don't appear to be terribly close but O'Donnell said in an interview with Sam Harris that Moynahan was a "nice girl," and that what happened to her and Brady must have been incredibly hard in the spotlight (via YouTube). "I always had this Irish, chubby washer-woman genetic make-up and then I get a look at this Moynahan cousin," O'Donnell told Harris.
O'Donnell went on to say of Moynahan, "We have to hang out. We have to compare family history notes." For his part, Harris told O'Donnell that she and her third cousin share the same qualities."You're both bull-headed," he said.
