You’re at a party, chips in hand, and someone drops the name “Corey Feldman.” Immediately, your brain serves up a mental highlight reel: “Goonies,” “Stand By Me,” that glove from “The Lost Boys.” Then, ten minutes later, someone mentions Ben Feldman, the charmingly frazzled guy from “Superstore” and “The Girl on the Train.” A little voice in your head asks, “Wait… are they brothers?” You glance around the room, hoping someone else is thinking the same thing so you don’t look like a fool asking.

Let’s be real: we’ve all been there. It’s the same mental itch you get when you wonder if every Smith is related, or if that guy who looks like a young Tom Hanks actually is his secret nephew. The truth? It’s a classic case of the famous last-name curse. Ben Feldman is not related to Corey Feldman. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

The Great Feldman Mix-Up

Think of it like this: You know how every person named “Johnson” automatically gets asked, “Oh, are you related to Magic Johnson?” It’s a reflex. Corey Feldman is our generation’s Magic Johnson of movie-star kids from the 80s, and Ben is just… Ben, doing his own thing in a blazer and a nervous smile.

If they were related, you’d expect some kind of shared wink in their careers. Like, maybe Ben would’ve guest-starred in a “Lost Boys” reboot wearing a leather jacket. Or Corey would have shown up on “Superstore” to buy a weird amount of vacuum cleaner bags. None of that happened. Because reality is boring that way.

It’s like when you meet someone named “Brad” and you’re secretly hoping he’s Pitt’s cousin, but he just works in accounting. The universe loves a good coincidence, but it hates giving us satisfying answers.

The Internet’s Favorite Paranoia

Go ahead, Google “Ben Feldman Corey Feldman related.” Your browser will pull up Reddit threads from 2013, a forgotten Twitter debate from a guy named @MovieFan99, and a Celebrity Net Worth article that tries to sound smart. The conclusion every time? No. They share a surname because the universe has a sense of humor, not a family tree.

Who Is Corey Feldman Touring WithWho Is Corey Feldman Touring With

I once spent a solid hour in a coffee shop convincing my friend that no, they weren’t cousins. She kept pointing at Ben’s dark hair and Corey’s dark hair, as if melanin was proof of blood. “But their noses!” she insisted. I told her that’s like saying every guy named “Mike” with a beard is related to Mike from the Bachelorette. Logic eventually won. Barely.

The funny thing is, if you squint and tilt your head, you can see a vague resemblance. It’s the same trick your brain plays when you see a cloud that looks like a duck. It’s not a duck. It’s vapor. Similarly, Ben and Corey are both human actors with brown eyes and a history of playing characters who get into trouble. That’s it.

Corey’s World vs. Ben’s World

Corey Feldman is a living fossil of Hollywood’s wild teenage era. He’s been in lawsuits, documentaries, and has a vibe that screams, “I’ve seen things, man.” He’s like the old pro at a carnival who’s been running the ring-toss game since 1985. Ben Feldman, meanwhile, is the guy who shows up to the carnival in a sensible sweater, buys a funnel cake, and politely asks for extra napkins.

Ben’s big break came from playing a vampire on TV (“The Vampire Diaries” spinoff), which is funny because Corey is literally a vampire in pop culture history. The irony is so thick you could spread it on toast. But no, they didn’t share a vampire coach or a bloodline.

'The Goonies' Cast: Where Are They Now?'The Goonies' Cast: Where Are They Now?

If you put them in a room together, the conversation would probably go something like: Corey: “Hey, cool last name. You famous?” Ben: “Uh, I’m on a sitcom about a store?” Corey: “Me too, man. I was in a store once. It was in a movie.” And then the silence would fill with the sound of mispronounced trivia.

The Takeaway (Or, How to Save Face at a Party)

Next time this question pops up at a barbecue, you can confidently say: “Fun fact—they’re not related. But Corey’s real name is Corey, and Ben’s full name is Benjamin. So they’re both technically ‘Benjamins’ in Hebrew, but that’s a stretch.” People will nod, impressed by your fake depth. You’re welcome.

Really, it’s a relief. Imagine the pressure of being Corey Feldman’s relative. You’d show up at family reunions and everyone would ask, “So, any new allegations?” That’s a heavy plate of nachos no one asked for. Ben is better off being his own guy, wearing his own glasses, and doing his own voiceover work for insurance commercials.

So the next time you see Ben Feldman on screen, you can smile and think, “Nope, not related to that other guy.” And then you can go back to wondering if every actor named Michael is secretly the same person in a wig. That puzzle is still unsolved.