Paul Giamatti: My royal ancestor may have killed Macbeth
- Published
Actor Paul Giamatti has revealed a surprise Scottish royal connection
Film actor Paul Giamatti has revealed that he is descended from Malcolm III, the king who defeated Macbeth.
The Oscar-nominated star, who missed out at the weekend on a statue for his film The Holdovers, has described his love of all things Scottish.
Speaking on his podcast Chinwag, external, Giamatti, 56, also admitted a life-long desire to own a kilt.
But he said he was too "intimidated" to have one made on a recent trip to Scotland.
Giamatti takes his surname from his father's Italian ancestry, but his family also includes forebears from Scotland.
The US actor, born in New Haven, Connecticut, visited Scotland last year and spoke of his feelings of connection with the country.
"I took a little jaunt to jolly old Scotland," he said.
"I had some haggis. Which I am here to tell you is tasty. It's really delicious and it's not what you think it's going to be
"I mean you hear about it and you're like 'Oh my gosh what is this going to look like?' and it's kind of a sausage and it's tasty. I really liked it."
Asked whether it was better not to think about what is in haggis, he replied:
"Best not to think about what's in a hot dog. Best not to think about what's in your frank at the ball park, you know what I mean? Best not to think about what's in most things really."
The actor was Oscar-nominated for his role in The Holdovers
On Sunday, Giamatti lost out on the best actor Oscar to Cillian Murphy, who won the award for Oppenheimer.
His most recent film The Holdovers, in which he plays a disillusioned classics teacher at an American private school in the 1970s, has been a critical and box-office success, with the actor nominated for many major awards.
Giamatti previously visited Scotland in 2003 when the Edinburgh International Film Festival premiered his film American Splendor.
"The whole place is outta sight. I've had a life-long thing about Scotland," he said in the podcast, which takes a humorous and sceptical look at history, science, the occult and paranormal beliefs.
The actor described going to an "astrocartographer", who laid his zodiac out over a map and said Scotland was an important place for him.
"I learned that in my genealogy I am evidently directly descended from Malcolm the Third. King Malcolm III, known as 'King Malcolm III - The Big Head'," he said.
"I think like 'The Big Cheese' is what they meant. Apparently I am a direct descendent."
One regret
Giamatti says he does not know how people work this out, but he is nevertheless excited by the link.
"Malcolm III is, by the way, the Malcolm who's in the Shakespeare play Macbeth," he added.
"It is the Malcolm in the end of that play that's made king. He himself in historical fact may have - with his own hand - killed King Macbeth.
"The actual historical Macbeth was apparently a good king, he wasn't such a bad guy, supposedly."
Malcolm III was indeed known as "Canmore" from the Gaelic for "big head" or "big chief". He reigned from 1058 to 1093, having reportedly defeated Macbeth and then killed Macbeth's successor and stepson Lulath.
Macbeth was portrayed by Shakespeare as a brave nobleman transformed into a treacherous murderer by ambition .
The real King Macbeth's reign was largely peaceful and he was respected as a strong leader.
Giamatti said his one regret over his Scottish trip was not buying a kilt.
"I've wanted a kilt my whole life and we went to a high-end kilt place and I got intimidated. I was like, I'm too afraid to talk to these people about this," he said.