Jeremy Renner thrilled with family connection to Jennifer Lawrence

Jeremy Renner has offered Jennifer Lawrence a place at his Thanksgiving dinner after it emerged the American Hustle co-stars are distant relations.

Family history experts looked into Jennifer's roots in a bid to find a connection with her The Hunger Games co-star Josh Hutcherson, but they stumbled upon a link between the actress and Jeremy, who worked with her on the Oscar-nominated 2013 crime drama.

"The discovery of the connection between Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner was complete happenstance," historian Michelle Ercanbrack tells People.com. "We were researching Jeremy Renner and noticed he had a Tague family line from Kentucky, which looked familiar. Once we realized Jennifer Lawrence had the same family in her tree, finding the relationship between the two was not only quick, it was really close...

"With how closely Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner are related, we're surprised they haven't bumped into each other at a family reunion."

The researchers discovered the stars are fifth cousins, and Jeremy expressed his delight in a post on his Instagram.com page.

The Avengers actor shared a picture of himself and Jennifer, and invited her to his Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday (26Nov15).

"l'll save a spot for you at the holiday dinner table... CUZ (cousin)! #whoknew #thanksgiving #family #jlaw."