Charlie Murphy Inspires Hermanos Famosos: Our Top Five Favorite Celebrity Brothers

From Cain and Able to Jack and Aureliano Buendia onward, history is rife with famous brothers vying for the gold. In pop culture there’s usually an obvious winner in terms of box office or fame, but more often than not we’re inclined to root for the scrappy sibling underdog. Here are our five favorites.

Charlie Murphy

It’s almost impossible to write about Eddie Murphy without some sort of hint of apology, some sort of nod to his breathtakingly funny stand-up and early SNL genius before ceaselessly mocking, say, Norbit. No such chore when it comes to talking about Charlie Murphy. His early hints at fame (mostly in his brother’s movies) would have been fine on his own, but Dave Chapelle snatching him up and dusting him with gold made him basically immortal. Plus, you get all that classic Murphy family charm and comedic timing without the mess of considering the gargantuan ego involved. Check out Eddie’s big brother this season when he’s featured in his own Comedy Central stand-up special, and try not to shout “Chaleee Murphaaaaaaay,” but it will be impossible.

Casey Affleck

Let’s face it: Ben Affleck knew what he was doing when he co-wrote Good Will Hunting and made his buddy Matt Damon the star. He had to know, years before Daredevil, that he just wasn’t a likable leading man type and was destined to live out a perfectly respectable career as a foil. For most actors, the next step is to take solace in the idea of being too good an actor with too much integrity for the Hollywood system or something. Unfortunately for Ben, his younger brother Casey is already there and does it waaaay better. His stints in the Soderbergh-directed Ocean’s Eleven series were already good fun, but he really made his mark in his Oscar-nominated role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Mumbling, subtle, with a hint of a current of rage underneath, Affleck brought immense life and understanding to a character caught in another man’s shadow.

Kevin Dillon

Remember when Matt Dillon was first starting out in, say, The Outsiders and you just totally fell for his whole “mook with a heart of gold” thing? Remember the moment it grew completely exhausting? Like, right after Wild Things? Well, Kevin Dillon is here to save the day, and he’s bringing with him five hilarious seasons (with two Emmy nominations) as Johnny Drama on HBO’s Entourage.

Clint Howard

Dude, motherfucking Clint Howard. His brother Ron may have redeemed himself with Arrested Development, but it really can’t undo years of directing the sloppiest Oscar bait we’ve been subjected to in the past decade or so. And then there’s good old Clint, the ne’er do well workhorse of the family, still scrapping it out in bit parts in pretty much every movie ever made (his IMDB profile currently lists 196 credits dating back to the 60’s.) Whenever he shows up in a movie it feels like a friend you didn’t know you missed arriving late to a party. “Hey, Clint’s here!” The MTV Movie Awards stopped giving out the Lifetime Achievement Award after they gave it to Clint Howard, because they knew it would never get better. Plus, his internet variety show is wonderful.

Emilio Estevez.

OK, he may be technically about as famous as brother Charlie Sheen, but we feel this is as good a place as any to declare our side in The Great War: we are Emilio Estevez people. It really goes without saying why, particularly if you put any random twenty seconds of Young Guns up against the finest episode of Two and a Half Men. And yes, now you’re sitting there going, “IS THERE a finest episode of Two and a Half Men?” NO, there is not. That’s the point. Throw in The Breakfast Club, St Elmo’s Fire, and Repo Man and this really isn’t even a fair contest anymore. Charlie’s got the headlines, but Emilio is goddamned Billy the Kid and you can’t take that away from him.