Michael Douglas and Scarlett Johansson have more than their acting careers in common: They're also related by blood.
On the April 2 episode of PBS's “Finding Your Roots,” Douglas learned that the Marvel actor, and his co-star in "Avengers: Endgame," is his DNA cousin.
“Are you kidding?” Douglas said in response to the news delivered by host Henry Louis Gates. “Oh, that’s amazing. All right. This is cool. This is so cool.”
Gates went on to share that research from professional genealogists found that the 79-year-old and Johansson, 39, “share identical branches of DNA on four different chromosomes.”
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According to Gates, all of the shared branches appear on Johansson's maternal line and stretch back to Eastern European Jewish communities.
Douglas, who won the 1987 Academy Award for “Wall Street,” is the son of the late actor Kirk Douglas. According to The Guardian, the actor’s father was born to Russian Jewish immigrants.
“That's incredible,” Douglas concluded of the new information.
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Andy Cohen also learned he was related to Johansson during his "Finding Your Roots" appearance.
The actor's ancestral relations to the Marvel actor wasn't the only bit of news that surprised him during his sit down with Gates.
In the same episode, Douglas discovered his connection to an important figure in American military history: John Neilson.
According to the episode, Neilson provided military intelligence to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Neilson, originally a merchant, chose to support the Continental Army instead of remaining loyal to England. Today, a statue in New Brunswick, New Jersey, commemorates his contributions.”
Gates went on to explain how, on July 9, 1776, John stood at a table in front of a tavern in New Brunswick and read the Declaration of Independence out loud. His would be the third official public reading of the document.
Neilson would go on to quickly rise to colonel of a New Jersey militia. In February 1777, he would take part as the militia aided a British stronghold in the Battle of Bennett’s Island. According to Gates, Neilson would go on to become a slave owner.
"I mean, he’s inspirational other than the fact that he was still a slave owner," Douglas said.
“I think the overwhelming feeling for me is for him to risk as early as he did reading that Declaration of Independence is a very courageous act. And his war record is amazing,” he continues. “And you just try to equalize that with having slaves 40 years later.”
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