The Nepo babies definitely have a leg up in Hollywood, whether they admit it or not — and that’s never more evident than when they’re literally making their debut in their parents’ projects.
Even if it’s just a small role, appearing in a big-time project is something many actors never get close to – most people can’t even get into the audition room for these projects unless they have a great agent and a ton of credits (and don’t even get me started on whether or not they belong to the SAG-AFTRA union).
Here are 15 Nepo babies who literally started with their parents…making them the ultimate Nepo babies.
1.
Judd Apatow cast his daughters Maude and Iris Apatow in three of his films when they were young: Knocked up funny peopleAnd It’s 40. Maude was then cast in three episodes of Girls (of which his father was executive producer).
Her next role was in Other people: She was recommended for the role by casting director Allison Jones. Jones had previously cast Judd Apatow’s film Monsters and Geeks40, Still a Virgin, Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Superbad, Funny People and This is 40… and had known the Apatows since Maude was two.
This all led to a role in a movie by Sam Levinson, himself a baby nepo (more on that later). He then cast her in Euphoria, widely regarded as his seminal role.
2.
Speaking of Sam Levinson… his father is Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson. His father cast him in his 1992 film Toys (with Robin Williams) when Levinson was a child, and later facilitated his entry as a writer, asking him to co-write the 2017 drama The magician of liesLevinson’s father told Collider: “I talked it over with my son, Sam, and he put together 20 pages. I sent it to Bob and Jane Rosenthal, and we had a meeting and they thought it sounded good, so I told them my son wrote it. Bob has known Sam since he was 10 years old, and he said, ‘All right, all right.’ That’s how we did it.”
Levinson — who had only one writing/directing credit on an independent film before his father asked him to work on The magician of lies — made the film a springboard to the dark satire of 2018 Nation of Assassination. Euphoria followed quickly.
3.
Gwyneth Paltrow was born to an actress mother and a director/producer father… and her godfather is literally Steven Speilberg. Her first role was in a television pilot (with Zach Braff, by the way) called High, written and directed by her father. She then made her professional stage debut in 1990 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, where her mother had appeared in several productions.
After a small role in John Travolta’s film Shout, she was chosen for her godfather’s film Hook. She then did a few small projects before having a bigger role in Flesh and bone, and, more memorably, Se7en — his career took off after that.
4.
Sofia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, began her acting career appearing in her father’s films. The Godfather, The Godfather 2, Foreigners, Rumbling fish, The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue got married And The Godfather 3 (a performance that was poorly received by critics). Coppola later said that becoming an actress had never been her dream and that she was simply helping her father.
She would later become a screenwriter/director, and would also benefit from the help of her father, who asked her to co-write his segment of the anthology film. New York Stories — the other segments were directed by Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen. After directing a short film and a few music videos, Sofia read The Virgins Who Committed Suicide and decided to adapt and make a film version. The film was critically acclaimed and his career took off.
5.
Bryce Dallas Howard is a Nepo family kid to the extreme: her mother is a writer and her father is the director Ron Howard. She is the granddaughter of actors, her godfather is Henry Winkler. Her first roles were as extras in her father’s films, notably in the Oscar-winning film Apollo 13 And A beautiful mind, plus box office success How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
After studying drama at university, most of her first major roles were in the theatre – she was noticed in As you like it by M. Night Shyamalan, who chose her for The Village And Lady in the water — for which she didn’t have to audition. After that, her career continued to take off.
6.
Blake Lively’s father is actor Ernie Lively, and her first role was in a film he directed called Sandman. Her mother is a talent agent. Her brother was also an actor and asked his agent* to send Blake to a few auditions one summer — that’s when she got her contract. The Brotherhood of Traveling Pants (in which his father also appears). Of course, his career exploded from there.
7.
Jeff Bridges is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and actress/writer Dorothy Bridges. Growing up, he appeared on his father’s shows Sea hunting, The Lloyd Bridges Show, And The Solitaire. He continued with a handful of small roles before landing The last movie screeninglaunching his career.
8.
Jessica Capshaw — best known now for playing Arizona in Grey’s Anatomy — is the daughter of actor/producer Kate Capshaw and the stepdaughter of Steven Spielberg.
Her first role was in a film in which her mother starred, The Grasshoppers. She had a few other small roles before being cast in her stepfather’s film. Minority report, which was a success.
9.
Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith made his acting debut alongside his father in The pursuit of happiness. After landing a role in the film The Day the Earth Stood Stillhe was thrown in The Karate Kid, which his parents produced, and starred again alongside his father in after Earth.
10.
Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son, had grown up making small films with his father’s collaborator and friend Paul Thomas Anderson and his son. Hoffman wasn’t even interested in acting until Anderson talked to him about it. Licorice Pizza and asked him to read the script. Once Hoffman told Anderson he wanted the role, Hoffman did a number of camera tests with the Haim sisters (who he said he would consider auditioning “to see if I could really do it”). He was only 17 and had no prior acting experience.
11.
Scott Eastwood may have tried to avoid taking advantage of his last name by initially using his mother’s last name, but I’m not sure he fooled anyone (in fact, one director noted that he looked exactly like “his father 25 years ago”). His very first film or television role was in his father’s movie Clint Flags of our fathers. He later appeared in his father’s film. Greater Turin And Invictus, and has had a long and consistent career since then.
12.
Anjelica Huston, daughter of director John Huston and granddaughter of actor Walter Huston, didn’t even want to act, saying she was given roles in her father’s films “without really wanting to.” [her] consent.” Her first major role was in her father’s film A walk with love and death, and her performance was not well regarded…but she went on to have a long career in Hollywood, and she worked with her father again on The dead.
13.
John David Washington, whose father is Denzel Washington, has appeared in two small roles in his father’s projects (including Malcolm X), then co-produced one of his father’s films before starting to direct it alone.
The role that made John David’s breakthrough was playing in BlacKkKlansman, a Spike Lee film — Lee was a frequent collaborator of Denzel and had previously directed John David in Malcolm X.
14.
In another example, Ang Lee’s son Mason Lee is set to make his major acting debut (after a number of small roles, including as a baby in one of his father’s films) in an upcoming Bruce Lee biopic to be directed by his father.
15.
And finally, the three members of Please Don’t Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy) were best known for their comedic TikToks before joining SNL. It sounded like a Cinderella story to them, until it turned out that two of them had fathers who were longtime writers and producers on SNL.
To bring this post full circle, after their work on SNLThe trio is working on a film with Judd Apatow. They will write the screenplay and star in the film, and will also executive produce it.
What do you think? Do these nepo babies deserve the good start they got? Let us know in the comments!
#Nepo #Babies #Big #Break #Famous #Parents #Chosen #Movies