Eric Christian Olsen Quotes

My mother was from West Bromwich; my grandfather was Pakistani. I had an aunt who started trying to trace the family tree and stopped when she saw what turned up.

You want to try to find your heritage.

I've known where my heritage is from all along.

I don't know much about my family history except that my father had straight black hair and his ancestors probably came from India.

My father came to England from India in 1957, and my mum came in 1960.

I discovered that there is Indian blood in my ancestry on my father's side - a fact that had not been talked about in my family. No wonder I've often been cast in exotic roles - Indian princesses, Russian revolutionaries, Algerians, Gypsies and Greeks.

My father's family can be traced back to 1400. I've been told by gypsies that there is unmistakeably gypsy blood in me. Lee is a gypsy name, you know.

To my astonishment, everything that I had assumed was now questioned by the findings. What started off as a search for identity that appeared to be purely Scottish in origin ended up as a discovery of my migrant roots - indeed an understanding that almost all of our families, at some stage, have been migrants - and my European roots.

I was researching my family tree, and I was deeply hoping I was going to turn out to be Eastern European, but I'm not.

While my mother is from Jammu, my father was originally from Afghanistan, as my grandfather was the governor of five provinces there, including Herat.

My grandfather on my dad's side was the first in our family to settle in the U.K. He came from Pakistan on his own in the '60s and worked in a cotton mill in Bolton, earning enough to bring over the rest of his family. My dad, Shah, was only about eight when he came to this country. Like most immigrants, he has a fierce work ethic.

It's really cheesy, but basically, 'Roots' got me to find out my own roots.

On my mother's side I'm Polish-Jewish, and on my father's side I'm Scottish puffin.

I'm part German and part Irish. In fact, there's even a town in Germany that was named after my family, Limbach or so forth. And I don't know. I might even have some Indian blood in there.

My grandfather is from Peshawar; he was born there.

My people came from western Tennessee and western Kentucky.

The fact that I am Latino is not a secret. There's not much I can do about that. It is what it is. I think people know that my last name ends in a vowel. What can I tell you?

Sometimes in Asian homes it is all about where we've come from, which is important too, but it is about where you live and where you're born and the people who are the same as you.

My grandparents on my father's side came to this country from the Caribbean with a strong connection to Africa and no shame about it.

My family came from Spain in 1725, and if people want to consider me Hispanic, they can, but I didn't advertise that way, and I'm an American first.

I know where I come from and what my roots are.

My parents are super westernized. My mom listens to western music, my dad was like a pub landlord so he properly embraced English life. But the truth is they both came from tiny villages in Sri Lanka.

My family were Conservative Jews. My parents were both born in this country, but my father grew up on the Lower East Side, and my mother was born and raised in Harlem when there was a large Jewish 'colony' there. Eventually, they moved to Jersey City to get away from New York.

Be very proud of your name and where you come from. It's so important. Say it loud and clear for everybody to hear.

My heritage is a huge part of everything I do; it is, after all, part of what has made me who I am.