Julia Roberts Is Blown Away To Learn She Isn't Really A Roberts

Julia Roberts may forever be Pretty Woman, but the cinema icon just learned that she really isnt a Roberts. (Watch the video below.)

On a recent episode of PBSs Finding Your Roots , DNA testing and census research revealed that the Oscar winner descended on her fathers side from a family named Mitchell, not Roberts.

Youre Julia Mitchell. You are not a Roberts biologically, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. told the star.

Wow, Roberts replied. Is my head on straight still? Am I facing you?

My mind is blown, she added.

The Erin Brockovich actor learned she was not related to the person she thought was her great-great-grandfather Willis Roberts. He was dead well before her great-great-grandmother, Rhoda Suttle Roberts, gave birth to the movie icons supposed great-grandfather John Roberts.

The father of John, it turns out, was a married man named Henry McDonald Mitchell Jr., who had an affair with Rhoda Suttle Roberts. Mitchell lived a few miles away, while his mother lived just doors from Suttle Roberts, Gates said.

The show compared DNA samples from the celebrity and a cousin of her fathers to others in a database, finding a cluster of matches that pointed back to Mitchell.

While Roberts tried to wrap her arms around the revelation, she still concluded: I do prefer the name Roberts.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Ancestry","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsc0AQkAh_2cQmxqwD6VWRw","cache_age":86400,"description":"Julia Roberts discovers her ACTUAL great-great-grandfather and gets a new last name, on Finding Your Roots with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.\n\nhttps://visitancestry.com/3IoElhN \nSubscribe: http://bit.ly/AncestrySubscribe\n\nAbout Ancestry: \nStart your family history journey today with Ancestry. With our massive collection of historical records, access to family trees, and DNA technology, were here to help you discover your personal history.\n\nConnect with Ancestry:\nVisit Ancestrys Official Site: https://www.ancestry.com/\nLike Ancestry on Facebook: http://bit.ly/AncestryFB\nFollow Ancestry on Twitter: http://bit.ly/AncestryTwitter\nFollow Ancestry on Instagram: http://bit.ly/AncestryIG","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":"129"},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8sXCRjTtHNU/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Julia Roberts Isnt ACTUALLY Julia Roberts?? | Finding Your Roots | Ancestry","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=8sXCRjTtHNU","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"63c1633fe4b0b2e15070b83c","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/julia-roberts-mitchell-finding-your-roots_n_63c1633fe4b0b2e15070b83c","entryTagsList":"julia-roberts,ancestry,finding-your-roots,geneology","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://action.news/entertainment","subcategories":"women,relationships,parents","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/1784218d-babd-48cb-9b7c-98c16b1a2a27/2_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":9},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"63c1633fe4b0b2e15070b83c","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Julia Roberts","slug":"julia-roberts","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/julia-roberts","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/julia-roberts","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/julia-roberts"},"relegenceId":2810323,"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Julia Roberts","slug":"julia-roberts","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/julia-roberts"},{"name":"ancestry","slug":"ancestry","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/ancestry","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/ancestry","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/ancestry"},"relegenceId":4964322,"url":"https://action.news/topic/ancestry"},{"name":"finding your roots","slug":"finding-your-roots","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/finding-your-roots","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/finding-your-roots","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/finding-your-roots"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/finding-your-roots"},{"name":"geneology","slug":"geneology","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/geneology","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/geneology","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/geneology"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/geneology"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">