Michael Douglas was left stunned after discovering that he’s related to fellow Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson.
The 79-year-old actor was told on the Tuesday, April 2, episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., that the 39-year-old star is his “DNA cousin.”
“Are you kidding?” asked a shocked Douglas on learning the news. “Oh, that’s amazing. Alright. This is cool. This is so cool.”
According to Gates and his “book of life,” which contains research from professional genealogists, Douglas and the Black Widow actress “share identical branches of DNA on four different chromosomes.”
The pair’s branches of shared DNA “appear on Scarlett’s maternal lines, which stretch back to Jewish communities in Eastern Europe,” Douglas was told.
“That’s incredible,” the Oscar winner responded before saying, “Well, I look forward to seeing Scarlett next time!”
The same episode also featured the writer-director-actor Lena Dunham, who was also told by Gates that she had a celebrity connection, sharing “at least one common ancestor” with fellow filmmaker Larry David.
“This is the hottest information I could have ever gotten,” responded Dunham, 37, in awe. “My husband’s going to freak out!”
Back in 2019, Johansson, who has previously starred on Finding Your Roots, and Douglas appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s box-office smash Avengers: Endgame.
