LOS ANGELES (September 11, 2012) — With the Olympics, the Royal Jubilee and last year’s royal wedding still fresh memories, the eyes of the world have lately been on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

But did you realize that you might be a distant cousin to the Queen herself? Probably not, even though millions of Americans of British descent really are related to her in ways that can be documented with some research.

Now you can work out your own chances of having royal blood, with the help of a fun new app, called “Are You Related to the Queen?” produced by the genealogy website, findmypast.com

Americans who already know they are kin to the Queen include everyone from Hilary Duff (18th cousin) – just named by findmypast.com as the Queen’s closest live relative among U.S. celebrities – to Brooke Shields (18th cousin, once removed), and Jake and Maggie Gyllenhall (19th cousins).

But how do you really work out your odds of finding a royal link?

Simple. All you need do is download findmypast.com’s free new “Are You Related to the Queen?” app and answer seven quick questions.

Serious questions like, “What is the earliest your family came to the United States?” are mixed in with some more fun questions such as: “Which of the following TV shows do you watch…?” Options include ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘Jersey Shore’, etc.

At the end you receive a numerical score, which tells you the odds that you’re related to the Queen.

The “Are You Related to the Queen?” quiz can be found on the Findmypast US Facebook page.

I remember that summer everyone was listening to the soundtrack, but not everyone was seeing the movie. Where you always confident that it would eventually catch on?
No, I don’t think I was. I felt like Cameron Crowe was a really special writer. I mean, I knew it because when you read his lines, they just tripped right off of your tongue. They were poetic, but really grounded in reality. Everyone had a different voice in the film. All of the characters had a very specific, different voice. So I knew that he was going to be an important writer and director. I was surprised that the movie didn’t do well. Everyone was. I remember MTV pushed and pushed and pushed the movie because they thought it was so amazing and they thought it spoke to so many people. But, I think I was so thrilled that it had a whole other life and the fact that it really stood the test of time. There’s not that many movies that really stand the test of time like that, so I’m really proud of it.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you had to fight for that role. You had a lot of competition.
You know, I was blissfully ignorant, I think, at the time. I think Jennifer Jason Leigh was suppose to be that part and she fell out for some reason. And then, I don’t know. I met on it — or, maybe, he called me. He must have seen me in something. Maybe it was “Born on the Fourth of July”? I don’t remember. I thought I was the only one auditioning for it! [Laughs] But, probably everyone wanted to do it.

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