You may know Lauren Ash as the hilarious Dina Fox on the NBC sitcom Superstore, or as the voice of Scorpia on the Netflix animated series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. But did you know that she has a surprising connection to one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed actresses, Jodie Foster?
That’s right, Lauren Ash and Jodie Foster are actually distant cousins! According to Ancestry.com, they share a common ancestor named John Alden, who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower, the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America in 1620.
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How Did They Find Out?
Lauren Ash revealed this fascinating fact on her podcast, True Crime and Cocktails, which she co-hosts with her cousin Christy Oxborrow. In an episode titled “The Assassination Attempt of Ronald Reagan”, they discussed the infamous incident in 1981 when John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan in an attempt to impress Jodie Foster, whom he was obsessed with after watching her in Taxi Driver
During their conversation, Lauren Ash mentioned that she had done some genealogy research and discovered that she was related to Jodie Foster through John Alden. She said that she was “shocked” and “thrilled” by this discovery, and joked that she should reach out to Jodie Foster and invite her to a family reunion
What Do They Have in Common?
Besides being distant cousins, Lauren Ash and Jodie Foster have some other things in common. They are both talented actresses who have won awards for their performances. Lauren Ash has won two Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Female Improviser and Best Performance by a Female in a Television Series, while Jodie Foster has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs
They are also both multilingual. Lauren Ash speaks fluent French, as she attended a French immersion school in Canada and graduated as the best of her class from the College Lycée Français. Jodie Foster speaks fluent French as well, as she studied it at Yale University and has acted in several French films. They both also speak some Spanish and German
What Do They Think of Each Other?
Lauren Ash has expressed her admiration for Jodie Foster on several occasions. She once tweeted that she was “obsessed” with Jodie Foster’s speech at the Golden Globe Awards in 2013, where she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. She also said that she would love to work with Jodie Foster someday, especially as a director
Jodie Foster, on the other hand, has not publicly commented on her relation to Lauren Ash or her work. However, given that she is known for being a private person who rarely talks about her personal life, this is not surprising. Perhaps she will acknowledge her distant cousin someday, or maybe they will even collaborate on a project together.
Conclusion
Lauren Ash and Jodie Foster are two amazing actresses who share a surprising family connection. They are both descendants of John Alden, one of the Pilgrims who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620. They also have some other things in common, such as their awards, their languages, and their sense of humor. They may not know each other personally, but they are definitely related by blood.
