Bob Odenkirk had no clue that he comes from a line of royals.
In a clip of an upcoming episode of Finding Your Roots, obtained by Rolling Stone, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. explained to Odenkirk, 61, that he is King Charles III’s 11th cousin.
“That is crazy,” the Better Call Saul actor said in the video.
Prior to his revelation, Gates Jr., 73, shared that he traced Odenkirk’s royal roots back five generations to Friedrich Carl Steinholz, Odenkirk’s great grandfather who was born in Germany in 1755. Steinholz was born out of wedlock to Maria Chatharina Bein and the Duke of Plön.
“I’m an American. I’m not a monarchist. I don’t believe in that,” Odenkirk quipped. “You know, I feel like it’s a little twisted. I understand why society built itself around monarchs and leaders, and they passed them down through generations.”
Odenkirk went on to say he understands that monarchy “goes through every society,” but he believes we’ve gotten to a “better place with democracy.”
Odenkirk added that “we should keep going down that road” before joking that he might “change [his] mind” after discovering that he was related to royalty.
Gates Jr. has previously revealed crazy connections to celebrities and historical figures.
In January 2023, Edward Norton appeared on a season 9 episode of Finding Your Roots where he learned that Pocahontas was actually his 12th great-grandmother.
“I understand that was family lore [you heard growing up],” Gates Jr. told Norton, 54, at the time. “Well, it is absolutely true.”
Gates Jr. explained that Norton’s family lineage could be traced back to John Rolfe, an English settler who married Pocahontas. Norton was amazed by the surprise connection.
“This is about as far back as you can go unless you’re a Viking,” the Incredible Hulk actor gushed. “Makes you realize what a small piece of the whole human story you are.”
In the same episode, Norton also discovered that his third great-grandfather, John Winstead, once owned slaves according to the 1850 census of North Carolina.
“The short answer is these things are uncomfortable, and you should be uncomfortable with them, everybody should be uncomfortable with it,” Norton said. “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.”
