The latter turned out to be much more interesting than anyone could have imagined.
Edward Norton discovered that he is a descendant of Pocahontas
In show business, it is not uncommon to find celebrities who are related to each other or, more surprisingly, related to royalty.
This was discovered in the ‘Finding Your Roots’ program, in which they discover the family tree of celebrities.
In an excerpt from the show published on January 2, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. confirms to Edward Norton that Pocahontas is his “twelfth great-grandmother.”
Upon receiving the information, the 53-year-old actor joked:
“This is as far back as you can go (in history), unless you’re a Viking.”
In a more serious tone, he commented:
“It just makes you see what a small piece you are in the history of humanity.”
When questioning how the information was obtained, his presenter explained that through written and historical documentation.
Edward Norton also discovered that one of his ancestors was a slave owner.
Although the previous one was a pleasant surprise, in the family history of the actor there were also other darker moments: his third great-grandfather was John Winstead, of whom records were found of having owned slaves in North Carolina around 1850.
Edward Norton described this part of his past as “uncomfortable”, although he did not walk away from the subject for that:
“The short answer is that these things are uncomfortable and you should be uncomfortable with them. Everyone should feel uncomfortable around them.”
“It is not a judgment on your own life, but it is a judgment on the history of this country and it needs to be recognized first of all, and then you have to fight it,” he added.
As if that weren’t enough, Edward Norton also happened to be the descendant of an ironmaker who joined the Union Army and a pro-union labor activist from the late 19th century involved in the Pullman strike.
Tell us in the comments, what do you think of these details of the Hollywood actor?
Source-news.google.com