Kathryn Hahn’s resume is as vast as she is talented. The 51-year-old actress’s career has spanned Will Ferrell comedies and “Parks and Recreation” to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her turn as witch Agatha Harkness in “WandaVision” and “Agatha All Along” to the new Apple TV+ show “The Studio.” In that time, she’s played Jewish characters more than once, the most notable one being Rabbi Raquel Fein on “Transparent.”
But is Kathryn Hahn herself Jewish?
If you’ve been following along with our previous investigations of this nature, you know that we’re looking to check at least one of two boxes. Does Kathryn Hahn identify as culturally or religiously Jewish? And/or, does Kathryn Hahn have Jewish ancestry? If the answer to either of those questions is a resounding yes, she’s a member of the tribe!
Let’s start with the question of Jewish ancestry. The answer isn’t too hard to find, thanks to “Finding Your Roots.” In a 2022 episode of the genealogical TV show, a DNA test revealed that Kathryn has mostly English, Irish and German ancestry with some Norwegian and Scottish lineage too. “Finding Your Roots” has covered numerous Jewish celebrities in the past, including notable people who didn’t realize they had Jewish ancestry until later in life like Alanis Morissette. So if Kathryn Hahn had unknown Jewish ancestry, I’m confident that Henry Louis Gates Jr. would’ve found it.
OK, then. Moving on to whether or not Kathryn Hahn identifies as cultural or religiously Jewish. The answer is no. When speaking to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2016 about playing Rabbi Raquel Fein, she said, “The odd thing about this is that [Joey] Soloway [the executive producer of “Transparent”] wrote this part for me knowing full well that I was not Jewish.”
“I was brought up Catholic in Cleveland, Ohio, though I was more like a cultural Catholic,” Kathryn explained. “I went to Catholic school all the way though high school mostly because it was the cheapest private school option. My relationship with my spirituality was very community based: I sat in church. I certainly pushed it away when I became a teenager.”
All that said, her husband Ethan Sandler is Jewish and for Kathryn, playing Rabbi Raquel has perhaps influenced the role religion plays in their household. “Playing a rabbi on this show has changed me in so many ways I can’t articulate,” she said in the same interview. “It’s perfect timing for me in my life as a mom with two kids and wandering spirituality. That individual relationship with God is huge for me.”
Verdict: No, Kathryn Hahn is not Jewish.
