Michael Douglas discovers he is related to Scarlett Johansson

Their resemblance is certainly not obvious, but Michael Douglas and Scarlett Johansson are distant cousins. The 79-year-old actor discovered this by participating in Finding Your Rootsa TV series in which, in each episode, celebrities are introduced to their family trees, ancestral stories, family connections and lineage secrets, based on research by professional genealogists. In the latest one, the host, Henry Louis Gates Jr, revealed to Michael Douglas that he and the actress of Black Widow they have genes in common.

“Are you kidding?” Douglas asked. «Oh, that's fantastic. All right. This is a good thing, it's really cool.” According to Henry Louis Gates Jr, the two actors shareor «identical branches of DNA on four different chromosomes». This shared DNA appears «on Scarlett's maternal lines», and «dates back to the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe». In fact, Melanie Sloan, Scarlett Johansson's mother, is an American producer and actress born in the Bronx in a Jewish family who emigrated from Poland. Michael Douglas is the eldest son of actors Kirk Douglas and Diana Hill: his paternal grandparents were Russian Jews emigrated in America.

“It's incredible,” added the Oscar winner. “Well, I can't wait to see Scarlett next time!”

In the same episode as Finding Your RootsAmerican actress, screenwriter and director Lena Dunham she learned that she had “at least one common ancestor” with her fellow director and film producer Larry David. Among the other genealogical surprises revealed by the series, also lhe relationship between the actors Edward Norton and Julia Roberts and the one between Bob Odenkirkthe lawyer Saul Goodman in the famous television series breaking Bad, and King Charles of England.

“I was thrilled when I discovered that DNA could be used to trace our ancestors up to 500 years ago,” Gates explained to People. “When you spit in that test tube, you never know what will come out.”