Edward Norton is a direct descendant of Native American heroine Pocahontas, it has been revealed.
The actor had grown up believing the connection to be part of โfamily legendโ, but was proven wrong on a recent episode of ancestry show Finding Your Roots on US network PBS.
Norton appeared in the first episode of season nine of the show, alongside fellow Hollywood star Julia Roberts, on Tuesday evening.
In it, host Henry Louis Gates Jr confirmed that Pocahontas was Nortonโs 12th great grandmother, having married colonist John Rolfe.
โYou have a direct paper trail. No doubt about it,โ Gates told him.
The pair were married in April 1614 in Jamestown, Virginia, though Pocahontas died just three years later in March 1617 in Gravesend, England.
โIt just makes you realise what a small piece of the whole human story you are,โ Norton replied.
Gates also revealed that Nortonโs ancestors had owned slaves, which the actor described as โuncomfortableโ to hear.
โThe short answer is these things are uncomfortable,โ he said.
โEverybody should be uncomfortable with it.โ
Writing on Twitter following the episodeโs release, he added that participating in the show had been โsuch a privilege and a pleasureโ.
โIโve admired Prof Skip Gates for years as an Historian, a teacher, writer, conversationalist and I love this show,โ he said.
โHeโs an inspiration and this was full of revelations & his wonderful insight about life and how we are all connected to history.โ (BelfastTelegraph)