"Honestly the nicest man on the planet," is how Sean Astin was introduced to RootsTech attendees when he walked onto the Main Stage during the 2023 conference, high praise from actor Kirby Heyborne, the Emcee for this year. Sean has traveled the world, sharing his story, smile, and kind temperament, but this is his first appearance at the largest genealogy conference in the world.
During an interview after his Main Stage keynote, Sean talked a little bit about his impressions of the RootsTech conference and the efforts being made to bring family history discoveries to people everywhere.
"This project is a gift to the world," Sean emphasized. "In America, where we're so divided...and have such troubles, the idea that you could actually reach out and learn about your biological family, your extended family, your friends—it's a proactive effort at interconnectedness."
Sean Astin and His Parents: Handling the Sticky Parts of Family History
Sean comes from a family of actors. His mother, Patty Duke, and his father, John Astin, are both known for various roles on the big screen. However, in his interview, Sean shared that connecting with his parents hadn't always been the most straightforward. When he was young, Sean recalls sitting in an audience to watch his parents perform on a talk show when someone came up to him and asked, "Isn't it true that Desi Arnaz Jr. is your biological father?"
"That went into my brain." Sean remembered. "That rattled around for years and years and years." Sean would eventually go on a long journey of parental discussions and DNA tests to find out the truth of his parentage. Despite the distress and confusion, he expressed how "Life had an amazing way of creating interactions." Not only did Sean sustain relationships with his adopted father (John Astin) and his stepfather (Mike Pearce), but he also gained new relationships with his supposed biological father (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and his actual biological father (Michael Tell).
"My big accomplishment [was] I didn't judge anyone. I knew that I could go in, understand their human frailty, and make friends!...At any moment, I could call any of them. That was my triumph. And everyone sort of appreciated that of me."
Sean Astin and His Ancestors: Uniting with the Past
Despite the attention generally brought by Sean's immediate family, after preparing for and speaking at the RootsTech genealogy conference, he admits that he has not paid enough attention to his extended family.
"My mother told these stories when we were growing up...[and it] was in one ear and out the other," Sean recalled during his keynote address."I always wondered about the passage from the Old Country, I wondered about that a little bit, but I didn't listen."
Before the keynote, Tamra Stansfield, of the genealogy nonprofit FamilySearch, had gifted Sean with a deep look into his genealogy. With great excitement on the stage, Sean described this gift to the keynote audience. "The immigration experience lives in our family," he said. Sean's genealogy didn't just contain birth records and death records, but also military registrations, ship manifests, and even photos of ships that his ancestors had come to America on.
The crowning piece of information that Sean learned about his ancestors was when Tamra told him his ancestors were workers. Sean shares that this phrase had such an impact on him because it paralleled what he considers "the best compliment my mom ever gave me":
"It was after the Lord of the Rings came out...she was thinking about Goonies and Memphis Belle and all the other movies, and the thousands of auditions and the thousands of phone calls with agents and managers...then getting to The Lord of the Rings, and it was 2 years and 6-day weeks and 18-hour days." Sean then remembers his mom saying, "You worked so hard for this. You worked so hard for this success.
And now, I have in me…this idea that that ethic, that work ethic, wasn't just ingrained in me by my mother, but it comes down through our lineage."
Sean Astin and His Daughter: Why Family History?
Sean isn't the only one with a strong work ethic. On the Main Stage, Sean shared with Kirby and the audience that his oldest daughter, Ali Astin, loves family history. She has put a lot of effort into interviewing extended family, learning their stories, and going through photo albums with them. When asked by her father why she loved genealogy, Ali's text said, "It's the way to learn about the ancestors that live on through me. We are the key to our ancestors' eternal life, and through my children, in a way, I'll live forever."
Ali's text continued, "I think we all repeat certain generational patterns, and learning from my ancestry is the biggest cheat sheet to solving life's greatest problems."
Sean Astin: Being Grounded in Who You Are
When talking about what kept him grounded during his early acting career, Sean described that he was humbled by times when he was unemployed and also by his education. He studied English and History in college. Much of the reading he was assigned was set in pastoral and agrarian settings. Sean says what stuck with him from these readings and other experiences in his life is that, "at the end of every great quest, what you learn when you've fought dragons and been in armies and done all these things...is that really the most important thing is your family and tilling your own soil."
Throughout both his keynote address and his interview afterwards, many of Sean's words conveyed to his audience that, no matter the causes or outcomes of an event, as long as a person knows who they are and where they come from, it'll be alright in the end. That tenet was strengthened further when Sean took the role of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
While talking about his preparation for the Samwise Gamgee role, Sean described J.R.R. Tolkien as a "faux-genealogist," citing the impressive amount of work Tolkien put into creating the genealogies of the characters and different races. Sean then treated fans with a recitation of a quote from Samwise that he feels particularly is related to family history:
In the great tales, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really matter. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you don't want to know the end because...how could the end be happy? How can the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass and a new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that meant something.
Sean's experiences at RootsTech show that this is the truth. It's the stories that matter. What is true is what's important, and you can pass that on from generation to generation.
In his final remarks, Sean contemplated on what he hoped people would remember his story for. "I would like it if [my daughters and future grandchildren] were to focus on kindness," Sean concluded. "I think kindness is a nice legacy."
Download and Share Your Favorite Sean Astin Quotes
!["Life [has] an amazing way of creating interactions."—Sean Astin](https://cms-b-assets.familysearch.org/3b/60/e19a84fb4a5e8ca18033d0097634/sean-astin-quote2.jpg)
Watch Other RootsTech 2023 Keynotes
What Is RootsTech?
RootsTech is a place to learn, be inspired, and make connections through family history. This conference is hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by other leading genealogy organizations. Each year, there are hundreds of expert classes, tips and tricks videos, and inspiring stories that can help you experience family history like never before. Visit our on-demand learning library, or make plans to join us for RootsTech 2024!
