STAR'S ANCESTORS INSPIRED TWO HOLLYWOOD FILMS

SURVIVAL, escape, tragedy, murder, success, glamour, beauty... Hollywood star Andrew Garfield's family history ticks all the boxes for a blockbuster in its own right.

- BY SARA WALLIS

In fact, the Spider-Man star's ancestors inspired two films - The Pianist, with Adrien Brody, and The Monuments Men, starring George Clooney.

Andrew finds himself overwhelmed by emotion several times as he takes part in the upcoming series of Who Do You Think You Are?

From pre-war Poland to the sunshine and elegance of early Hollywood - via the Treblinka Nazi death camp - it's a journey of contrasts as Andrew traces his father's Jewish family roots.

The 41-year-old, who admits he didn't know much about his ancestry before taking part in the BBC1 show, is tearful as he finds out that some of his relatives were murdered by the Nazis, that some managed to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, and that some even made the big time during the golden age of Hollywood.

It's a poetic circle of discovery for Andrew, who grew up between London and Los Angeles. As he embarks on the trip, he says: "I feel a longing to connect more to my Jewish heritage. I'm excited to pursue some darker truths, or unknown truths."

Andrew, who spent his childhood in Surrey with his dad Richard, mum Lynn and older brother Ben, starts with a hunt through family photos.

He reveals his favourite photo, of his mum - who died in 2019 - kissing him as a baby.

"Not everyone gets that kind of mothering," he says. "I got lucky. She was pure kindness and care. She was absolutely the best of us."