- The long-running series hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. delves through his celebrity guest’s family trees to uncover long-lost secrets
- At the end of each episode, Gates compares the DNA he collected from his guests with the DNA of other celebrities who have been on the show
- Gates revealed at the end of the new episode – which also featured Girls creator Lena Dunham – that the 79-year-old actor is a distant relative of Johansson, 39
Michael Douglas got the surprise of a lifetime at the end of Tuesday’s episode of PBS’ Finding Your Roots, where he learned he was related to Scarlett Johansson.
The long-running series hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. delves through his celebrity guest’s family trees to uncover long-lost secrets.
At the end of each episode, Gates compares the DNA he collected from his guests with the DNA of other celebrities who have been on the show.
Gates revealed at the end of the new episode – which also featured Girls creator Lena Dunham – that the 79-year-old actor – who was recently seen golfing in Montecito – is a distant relative of Johansson, 39.
At the end of Douglas’ huge book containing his family tree, he flipped to a page featuring a picture of Johansson, as he laughed and said, ‘Ah! You’re kidding!’
Michael Douglas got the surprise of a lifetime at the end of Tuesday’s episode of PBS’ Finding Your Roots, where he learned he was related to Scarlett Johansson
At the end of Douglas’ huge book containing his family tree, he flipped to a page featuring a picture of Johansson, as he laughed and said, ‘Ah! You’re kidding!’
Gates told him, ‘Your DNA cousin is the actress Scarlett Johansson,’ which Douglas said was, ‘amazing.’
‘This is cool. This is so cool,’ Douglas added as Gates explained they shared, ‘identical stretches of DNA on four different chromosomes.’
Gates added the identical DNA stretches all occur on Scarlett’s maternal lines, ‘which stretch back to Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.’
Douglas responded with a laugh, ‘That’s incredible. I look forward to seeing Scarlett next time.’
Oddly enough, an earlier episode also revealed that Bravo host Andy Cohen is also related to Johansson.
Dunham was also given a surprise, with Gates revealing that her distant cousin is none other than Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David.
David made headlines back in 2017 when it was revealed on Finding Your Roots that he’s actually sixth cousins (once removed) of Bernie Sanders, who he played on SNL.
‘This is the hottest information I could have ever gotten,’ Dunham said, as Gates explained she and David share, ‘multiple, long, identical segments of DNA with you and your mother.’
Gates told him, ‘Your DNA cousin is the actress Scarlett Johansson,’ which Douglas said was, ‘amazing’
‘This is cool. This is so cool,’ Douglas added as Gates explained they shared, ‘identical stretches of DNA on four different chromosomes’
Douglas responded with a laugh, ‘That’s incredible. I look forward to seeing Scarlett next time’
Oddly enough, an earlier episode also revealed that Bravo host Andy Cohen is also related to Johansson
Gates added that meant that both David and her share, ‘at least one common ancestor’ on her mother’s side of the family tree.
‘This is… I could not have turned the page and been more delighted. This is incredible. You saved the best for last,’ Dunham said.
The show – which is currently on its 10th season on PBS – has revealed other celebrity connections in the past.
Last season, Julia Roberts and Edward Norton Jr. learned they were both actually distant cousins.
Norton also learned that the iconic navigator Pocahontas is actually his 12th great grandmother.
Other celebrity matches on the show included Viola Davis learning she’s related to Anita Hill, Clare Danes learning she’s related to Melissa McCarthy and Seth Meyers related to Kevin Bacon.
