America Ferrera’s “Finding Your Roots” experience left her in a state of shock.
In an exclusive clip from show’s Season 12 premiere, out Jan. 6, Ferrera reads a love letter her grandmother had written in the early 1950s to a man named Arturo.
“It’s dated three years before June 20, 1952, so likely around the time she got divorced,” host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. tells Ferrera in the clip.
Ferrera reacts to Gates’ news with shock and delight.
“Are you kidding me? A love letter!” she says with a smile. “I wonder if she ever thought that one day I would be reading this on television? Maybe she’s been waiting for this moment. Maybe this is what she’s been waiting for.”
Ferrera then begins reading the letter, which was originally written in Spanish and translated to English, on camera.
“Arturo, I suffered a disillusion that’s caused me to close my heart to all affection, thinking that I could not love again, but you appeared on my lonely path to break this law,” Ferrera reads. “Despite the disappointment I suffered, I listened to your words. Despite my dashed hopes, I forged new ones and new dreams.”
Ferrera then takes a brief pause and looked up at Gates with a surprised look on her face.
“I honestly cannot get over that you guys found a love letter. I can’t get over it!” she laughs.
Season 12 of “Finding Your Roots” will premiere on PBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Along with Ferrera, some other stars who will be on the Emmy-nominated show this season are Lizzo, Spike Lee and Brittney Griner.
In the Season 12 trailer of “Finding Your Roots,” Ferrera took in the new information that she had about her family.
“It’s like learning there’s a new room in your house that you’ve never seen,” she said.
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