diff --git a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Behaviors/ActorGroupBehavior.cpp b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Behaviors/ActorGroupBehavior.cpp
index c3202398b4..1e9c14d2e0 100644
--- a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Behaviors/ActorGroupBehavior.cpp
+++ b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Behaviors/ActorGroupBehavior.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ namespace EMotionFX
 
                 Group::ActorGroup* group = azrtti_cast<Group::ActorGroup*>(&target);
                 group->SetName(AZ::SceneAPI::DataTypes::Utilities::CreateUniqueName<Group::IActorGroup>(scene.GetName(), scene.GetManifest()));
+                group->SetBestMatchingRootBone(scene.GetGraph());
 
                 // LOD Rule need to be built first in the actor, so we know which mesh and bone belongs to LOD.
                 // After this call, LOD rule will be populated with all the LOD bones
diff --git a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.cpp b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.cpp
index e4065f58e0..b623086bc1 100644
--- a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.cpp
+++ b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.cpp
@@ -9,10 +9,14 @@
 #include <AzCore/Memory/SystemAllocator.h>
 #include <AzCore/Serialization/SerializeContext.h>
 #include <AzCore/Serialization/EditContext.h>
+#include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/Containers/SceneGraph.h>
+#include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/Containers/Views/PairIterator.h>
+#include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/Containers/Views/SceneGraphDownwardsIterator.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/DataTypes/Rules/IRule.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/DataTypes/GraphData/IBoneData.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/DataTypes/GraphData/IMeshData.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/DataTypes/Groups/ISceneNodeGroup.h>
+#include <SceneAPI/SceneData/GraphData/RootBoneData.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/Utilities/Reporting.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneData/Rules/CoordinateSystemRule.h>
 #include <SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.h>
@@ -76,6 +80,22 @@ namespace EMotionFX
                 m_selectedRootBone = selectedRootBone;
             }
 
+            void ActorGroup::SetBestMatchingRootBone(const AZ::SceneAPI::Containers::SceneGraph& sceneGraph)
+            {
+                auto nameContentView = AZ::SceneAPI::Containers::Views::MakePairView(sceneGraph.GetNameStorage(), sceneGraph.GetContentStorage());
+                auto graphDownwardsView = AZ::SceneAPI::Containers::Views::MakeSceneGraphDownwardsView<AZ::SceneAPI::Containers::Views::BreadthFirst>(
+                    sceneGraph, sceneGraph.GetRoot(), nameContentView.begin(), true);
+
+                for (auto it = graphDownwardsView.begin(); it != graphDownwardsView.end(); ++it)
+                {
+                    if (it->second && it->second->RTTI_IsTypeOf(AZ::SceneData::GraphData::RootBoneData::TYPEINFO_Uuid()))
+                    {
+                        SetSelectedRootBone(it->first.GetPath());
+                        return;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
             void ActorGroup::Reflect(AZ::ReflectContext* context)
             {
                 AZ::SerializeContext* serializeContext = azrtti_cast<AZ::SerializeContext*>(context);
diff --git a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.h b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.h
index fddb0d6afc..0725b3e88b 100644
--- a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.h
+++ b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/ActorGroup.h
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ namespace EMotionFX
 
                 // IActorGroup overrides
                 const AZStd::string& GetSelectedRootBone() const override;
-
                 void SetSelectedRootBone(const AZStd::string& selectedRootBone)  override;
+                void SetBestMatchingRootBone(const AZ::SceneAPI::Containers::SceneGraph& sceneGraph) override;
 
                 static void Reflect(AZ::ReflectContext* context);
                 static bool IActorGroupVersionConverter(AZ::SerializeContext& context, AZ::SerializeContext::DataElementNode& classElement);
diff --git a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/IActorGroup.h b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/IActorGroup.h
index 398ec2c559..b57a9dfb13 100644
--- a/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/IActorGroup.h
+++ b/Gems/EMotionFX/Code/EMotionFX/Pipeline/SceneAPIExt/Groups/IActorGroup.h
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
 #include <AzCore/RTTI/RTTI.h>
 #include <SceneAPI/SceneCore/DataTypes/Groups/IGroup.h>
 
+namespace AZ::SceneAPI::Containers
+{
+    class SceneGraph;
+}
+
 namespace EMotionFX
 {
     namespace Pipeline
@@ -26,6 +31,7 @@ namespace EMotionFX
 
                 virtual const AZStd::string& GetSelectedRootBone() const = 0;
                 virtual void SetSelectedRootBone(const AZStd::string& selectedRootBone) = 0;
+                virtual void SetBestMatchingRootBone(const AZ::SceneAPI::Containers::SceneGraph& sceneGraph) = 0;
             };
         }
     }