Reese Witherspoon discovers Irish heritage

Hollywood superstar Reese Witherspoon was thrilled to discovery that she has Irish ancestry and even joked that she fits the stereotype because: “I’m a really good drinker.”

The Legally Blonde actress was a guest on Conan O’Brien’s chat show and said she had just been told by his producer that she is “63% Irish”.

Witherspoon was told the news after doing a genetic test, and admitted she was surprised after she had always believed her family background was Scottish and Welsh.

The 41-year-old star said: “It turns out my parents are just full of s–t, I guess. But now I’m Irish!”

She then joked: “It just makes so much sense, I’m a really good drinker. I love St. Patrick’s Day. Potatoes are delicious. I’m looking forward to meeting all my cousins.”

Witherspoon then attempted less-than-convincing Irish accent, saying: “Now I get to say things like, ‘It’s in me genes! I love that Conan’ O’Brien; he’s such a nice fella.’”

O’Brien then explained to Witherspoon that he had his genes tested, and he was told that he is 99.8% Irish. He claimed that makes him “more Irish than people living in Ireland”.

Take a look at the video here.

Later in the show Witherspoon, spoke about her American heritage, and said she will never lose touch with her Tennessee roots.

She explained: “I never lost the Tennessee in me, and the Tennessee is like, when you get really mad, I get really Southern.

“If I get kinda mad, I’ll give you a ‘sit to,’ which means you have to sit down and listen to everything I have to say.

“And then if you really make me mad, then I give you a ‘what for,’ which is a whole other thing you don’t want to get involved in.

“Even my daughter said the other day, and she’s born in California, but she said, ‘And I gave that person a sit to and I told them what for.’ It’s seeping in, I’m so excited!”

Witherspoon also spoke about starrin in the film adaptation of the fantasy adventure book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.

Oprah Winfrey is also starred in the film, and Witherspoon spoke about how humbling it is to work alongside the legendary chat show queen.

She said: “It was different than being in, like, a normal hair and makeup trailer, where everybody is kind of like shooting the cr*p, and she’d be like, ‘You know what book I really love?’ and everybody gets silent.

“Like, pull out a pen. ‘You know what the most important thing I ever learned in my life?’ and everybody’s like, you could hear a pin drop.”

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