Answer: Benedict Cumberbatch

In 2012, the BBC began airing a critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s second historical tetralogy dubbed The Hollow Crown. Like Shakespeare’s original work, the series explored the lives of prominent English royalty: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V.

The popularity of the series inspired a second release in 2016, focused on Shakespeare’s first historical tetralogy and dubbed The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses. In this series, viewers were treated to a particularly interesting historical coincidence that, if not for the efforts of dedicated genealogist and professor Kevin Schurer, we would be unaware of and unable to delight in.

In the second series, King Richard III is portrayed by modern day actor Benedict Cumberbatch who, thanks to Schurer’s careful studies, we now know is King Richard III’s third cousin sixteen times removed.