The duo dish on the revelation and their longtime friendship.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: In the clip, Lisa you say that you met and became besties in six hours.
I feel like there’s a story there.
Elaine Hendrix and Lisa Ann Walter.Ancestry UnFamiliar
What initially forged your friendship?
LISA ANN WALTER:I met her briefly at a callback forThe Parent Trap.
I didn’t really get to say anything more than, “Hi.”
Elaine Hendrix and Lisa Ann Walter.Ancestry UnFamiliar
And then we met officially the first day of filming.
I was in Chessy-core clothing what the kids now call Chessy-core.
So Elaine had a salad.
I ate a pie.
But we did not leave the table for… it had to have been four hours.
And then [she] came back to the room.
And we talked for another couple of hours.
It was like a long first friendship date, where we got all the info.
And that’s who you want to hang with.
She was that for me during the project.
So we just kept doing stuff together, and then I just kept helping her move out of houses.
And that was it.
Do you guys have one of those moments?
And going through that experience and watching that experience with you.
WALTER:That’s one.
Then she came to my house afterwards when they finally let her out of the hospital.
And she was gray.
And I remember saying, “Sit down.
I’m making you eggs.”
And she was vegan, and she didn’t fight me.
HENDRIX:No, I was still vegetarian at that point.
WALTER:I would like to think that I made you break veganism to eat my eggs.
One person has got to be grounded.
Like, my cast on my ABC show [Abbott Elementary], I mother all the time.
But with Elaine, I think I kind of felt that energy towards her.
And then I remember there was a time when I reached out to her.
It was either about like an audition or it was about a guy or something.
I don’t remember what thethingwas.
What I remember, is that I asked for her help.
And I don’t ask people for help, ever.
It is not in my nature.
It’s like I don’t even think I need help.
I felt like absolutely 50/50 equals with her.
HENDRIX:And I’m the opposite, by the way.
I go to Lisa for everything because I can’t function on my own without her.
You guys have taken the internet by storm showing up together at awards shows the last few years.
Were you surprised by the reaction you got?
And it was a gorgeous picture, so we just posted it on our social media.
And the news picked it up internationally.
That one surprised me.
We were watching every day going, “Oh my god.
20 new stories just came out.
People can’t believe we’re friends.”
But that one surprised us.
Butsheknew, she knew.
And she wore the hell out of that tuxedo.
She walked in in that and I was like, “Oh my god, Marlene Dietrich.”
And I think that’s what made it go so viral.
HENDRIX:I’m not surprised.
I’ve never been surprised by it.
We’d get fan letters, we’d get people asking for autographs.
And now with social media, we’re getting posted, we’re getting tagged.
Every single day something comes at us, and it always has, because that movie is so beloved.
And it warms my heart, it makes me so happy.
Because this is one of the reasons we do this, is to make other people happy.
And the fact that it’s worked, and it’s working it’s just such a huge validation.
And I feel like we’re giving generations like this big, group hug together.
So, Lisa, why did you want to take part in this Ancestry journey?
There was stuff like that.
But there was other stuff I had no idea about.
I didn’t know why they came over [to America].
I didn’t know how old which relative was when they came over.
I didn’t know the specifics and I wanted to, and I wanted my kids to know it.
And they lived in a one bedroom apartment 13 people.
I didn’t know my other great-grandmother was a foundling.
They were strong, strong people and I’m proud to be descended from them.
And Elaine, how did you get involved and were you able to keep it a secret from Lisa?
HENDRIX:I was [able to keep it a secret], and I did.
And Ancestry reached out and said, “Hey, we have this idea.
Would you be game for it?”
And I was like, “Absolutely.”
And I don’t know that they had done any research yet at that point.
I don’t think so, because I had to give them information.
And so we just knew that I also had Italian roots in my family on my mother’s side.
But once they started digging, they’re like, “Are you ready for this?
Your great-grandparents and her great-grandparents lived two blocks from each other.”
And back then there were very specific neighborhoods that very specific groups of people lived in.
So it just makes sense.
It’s like, “Oh, of course.
Of course, we have this connection.”
I half expected to be told that we were actually related.
HENDRIX:Very uncanny, given the history.
I mean, America is a very big place.
New York alone is a very big place.
Hendrix and Walter’s episode ofunFamiliaris streaming now onAncestry’s YouTube page.
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