Actor Edward Norton had grown up hearing stories about his family's relationship to the Native American hero Pocahontas, but thought it was a family legend. It was a big surprise when the presenter Henry Louis Gates Jr of American channel PBS told the actor who his ancestors were.

Finding your roots

In the show Find Your Roots, celebrities face their family's past by undergoing research by professional genealogists. "Pocahontas is your twelfth great-grandmother," Henry Louis Gates Jr. told the actor who rose to fame for movies like "Fight Club" or "The Master Con."

Through a direct paper trail leading to Pocahontas and John Rolfes' 1614 marriage certificate, @EdwardNorton learns that his family lore appears to be true. His 12th great-grandmother is Pocohantas!

Tune in TOMORROW night on @PBS at 8/7c for the Finding Your Roots premiere!! pic.twitter.com/54sTTt2YKY

— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) January 2, 2023

Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the leader of a Native American tribe, married English settler John Rolfe in Virginia in 1614, while William Shakespeare was still alive. Pocahontas died several years later, in March 1617, in England, while colonist John Rolfe died around March 1622.

More family surprises

The actor's relationship to Pocahontas wasn't the only surprising news about Norton family. Gates also told Norton that his ancestors had slaves. His third great-grandfather had "seven human beings enslaved," including a 55-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman, and five girls ages 10, 9, 8, 6 and 4, the PBS host explained.

"How does it feel to see that?" Gates asked. "The short answer is these things are uncomfortable," Norton said. "Everyone should feel uncomfortable. When you read 'Slave, 8 years', it makes you want to die."