Debra Messing Discovers She's Related to a Famous Politician inFinding Your RootsSeason 11 Trailer (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Finding Your Rootsis returning with another season of celebrity guest stars — and a slew of surprises!

The PBS docuseries' eleventh season debuts on Jan. 7, 2025, with acclaimed Harvard professor and hostHenry Louis Gates Jr. back once again to uncover the secrets of celebrities’ family trees.

This season’s guests includeDebra Messing,Joy Behar,Kristen Bell,Laurence Fishburne,Michael Imperioli,Melanie Lynskey,Natalie Morales,Sheryl Lee Ralph,Lea Salonga,Amanda Seyfried,Dax Shepard,Sharon Stone,Chrissy Teigen, celebrity chefsJosé Andrésand Sean Sherman, novelist Amy Tan, poet Rita Dove, historian Lonnie Bunch and musician Rubén Blades — and it’s sure to take viewers on a journey.

In PEOPLE’s exclusive first look at the trailer, a number of guests, including Stone, Ralph and Teigen, express excitement and nervousness as Gates elegantly strides into a room. The clip cuts to Lynskey staring at a scrapbook, smiling and wondering aloud, “Wow. How did you even find this?”

Debra Messing and Henry Louis Gates Jr. in season 11 of ‘Finding Your Roots.'.PBS

PBS

“I have so many questions in my brain,” Sherman says.

Seyfried, meanwhile, is bowled over when she learns that her third great-grandfather was murdered. “What?” she utters.

Fishburne exclaims in another moment, “It’s better than any movie script or television play I’ve ever read!”

In the next sequence of moments, Imperioli and Andrés mull over their revelations around their genealogies, while Stone wipes away tears. “I don’t know why I’m feeling so emotional about people I’ve never met,” Stone admits.

Tan tells Gates he has unleashed the “best storytelling ever.”

Amanda Seyfried in season 11 of ‘Finding Your Roots.'.PBS

Gates then begins to disclose to guests their DNA cousins: Messing learns she’s related to SenatorBernie Sanders, while Lynskey realizesQuestloveis a relative.

The trailer also teases this season will have a surprise guest, before Gates receives his own genealogical scrapbook, causing him to pause. “This is…” he trails off. “It’s deeply emotional.”

In the trailer’s final moments, Blades says, “You know, I’ve seen this show before, and I’ve seen people in this position, and I tell you, it’s really astonishing,” he says.

“It’s breathtaking. It’s breathtaking. I’ve waited 60 some odd years for this,” Fishburne says.

“It’s an incredible story — and it’s great that it’s my story,” Morales adds.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Kristen Bell in season 11 of ‘Finding Your Roots.'.PBS

Opening up a family tree map for Teigen, Bell and Lynskey, each find themselves stunned. “Wow, that’s incredible!” Teigen says, while Lynskey utters, “Oh, my goodness!”

“You just feel enormously full,” Dove says.

“Makes me feel whole,” says Seyfried. “Makes me feelme.”

The show has evolved over the years, drawing a wide range of celebrities. Some revelations have been welcome surprises, like whenAndy Samberglearned the identity of his grandmother in season 5, which had been previously unknown to his mother, who was adopted as an infant.

Melanie Lynskey in season 11 of ‘Finding Your Roots.'.PBS

WhenLL Cool Jlearned on the show in 2016 that his mother was adopted, it “blew” the rapper’s mind. “LL had a whole new family, and it humbles me to be able to connect people to their ancestors, to their genealogical and genetic roots,” Gatestold PEOPLEin July.

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source: people.com