Edward Norton has been many things throughout his life and career as an actor. First, his early life tells us that he was inclined to the art of acting, as he was fascinated by a musical related to Cinderella, which he saw with his parents. Next thing you know he was a competitive rower at college and worked as a representative for his grandfather’s company in Japan.
But most prominently, the Fight Club star is an actor of the highest standards and his impressive track record in critically acclaimed movies is a testament to his skill. But did you know that Norton is also deeply connected through blood to this one important Native American figure from the past?
Edward Norton Is Related To 17th Century Native American Pocahontas
What comes as shocking news, at least for Edward Norton, is the revelation announced to him during his appearance on the Henry Louis Gates Jr.-led documentary TV series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
In his appearance on the TV series, the Primal Fear star was told by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that he is in fact related to Pocahontas- a popular 17th-century Powhatan woman, who rose to fame at the time for marrying one of the earliest English settlers of North America- tobacco planter, John Rolfe.
Gates Jr. talks about the Powhatan woman to give the audience a little bit of context-
“John Rolfe and Pocahontas got married on April 5, 1614. Shakespeare dies in 1616, just to put this in perspective. Pocahontas died sometime in March 1617 in Grave’s End, England, and John Rolfe died around March 1622.”
Norton, upon hearing the news, took the opportunity to note that humans as individuals ironically only occupy a small piece of human history-
“This is about as far back as you can go, unless you’re a Viking. Makes you realize what a small piece of the whole human story you are.”
As the show went on, the 53-year-old movie star also has some other distant relatives. Norton is related to John Winstead who apparently was a slave owner in the 19th century, as well as a 19th-century pro-union labor activist and a soldier of the American Civil War, who happened to have written to Abraham Lincoln.
A small world indeed. At least he’ll be making a significant mark as a popular actor in entertainment history!
Edward Norton Is Critical Of His And America’s Past
It would be quite a hard-hitting fact to know (if you’re a sane person) that you’re related to someone who used to own slaves. Edward Norton, however, handled the whole situation pretty well.
After learning of his relation to Pocahontas and the slave owner John Winstead, the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery star commented on ‘accepting’ how uncomfortable American history is due to its connections to slavery, war, and racism-
“The short answer is these things are uncomfortable, and you should be uncomfortable with them, everybody should be uncomfortable with it. It’s not a judgment on you and your own life, but it’s a judgment on the history of this country and it needs to be acknowledged first and foremost, and then it needs to be contended with.”
Facing your past requires acknowledging the past and your association with it. Just like Norton says, Americans must confront the damning past of their country.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: IndieWire
