The idea of “nepo babies” hasgrown in popularity over recent years, ascending to the status ofrecurring Internet joke. While most nepo babies memes aren’t anything more than just that, memes, they do reflect something that has always been present in the entertainment industry. It has actually been there for way longer than TikToks about it—children of well-known people in the industry getting an easier entry into it than people who have absolutely no initial connection with it.
In a way, nepo babies aren’t exclusive to the entertainment industry but can be found in pretty much any competitive field where connections and networking play a major role. While several currently active actors and actresses don’t like being asked questions about their famous parents, being labeled as a nepo baby doesn’t necessarily reflect on their talent—in fact, there areplenty of nepo babies who are incredibly good performersin their own right.
10Phoebe Dynevor
Bridgerton, Fair Play
Phoebe Dynevor rose to fame when she led the very first season ofBridgertonas the eldest of the titular family’s daughters, Daphne, making her debut on the vicious marriage mart of Regency London. From there she has gone on to star in films such asThe Color Room,Fair Play, andspy-thrillerInheritance, and her acting credits also include a series of television roles in her native England before her blockbuster run onBridgerton.
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Dynevor might not be the first name that comes to mind when counting off “nepo babies,” especially not to anyone in the United States, but her mother is an absolute pillar of English television.That’s actress Sally Dynevor, née Whittaker, who has been starring in the soap operaCoronation Streetsince the mid-’80s, and has become an incredibly familiar face to all fans of this long-running show.
9Domnhall Gleeson
Anna Karenina, Star Wars
It’s common for famous parent-child duos to share red carpet photos and industry connections, but it’s not always that it extends to roles as well.Irish actor Downhill Gleeson and his father, Brendan, however, have both starred in theHarry Potterfranchise—as has half of the English and Irish film industry. Domnhall appears in bothDeathly Hallowsmovies as the eldest Weasley brother Bill, while Brendan brought the rough ex-Auror Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody to life starting withGoblet of Fire.
Domnhall Gleeson’s career includes turns in massive productions like theStar Warsprequel trilogy andThe Revenantas well as indie movies likeEx Machinaand romantic dramedies likeAbout Time. When it comes to acting credits, though, he still has much to learn from his father, one of the most prominent Irish actors currently active. AmongBrendan Gleeson’s most recent works isThe Banshees of Inisherin, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
8Nico Parker
The Last Of Us, How To Train Your Dragon
Despite her young age, English actress Nico Parker has some very enviable acting credits on her resume. The most impressive of these is arguably her brief but heartbreaking turn as Sarah Miller in HBO’s live-action adaptation ofThe Last of Us. While she appears only in the first harrowing episode of the show, where her father Joel—played by Pedro Pascal—tries to carry her to safety through the zombie outbreak, her performance is so raw and striking that it remains with audiences throughout the entire run of the show’s first season.
Nico Parker is set to star as Astrid in the upcoming live-action adaptation ofHow to Train Your Dragon.
One might say that such talent is a family thing, since Nico Parker is the daughter of not one but two industry professionals. Her father, Ol Parker, is a writer and director, whose credits includeImagine Me & YouandMamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Perhaps more famously,her mother is actress Thandiwe Newton, who has received widespread critical acclaim—and an Emmy Award—in recent years for her role as Maeve in HBO’s dramaWestworld.
7Liv Tyler
Lord Of The Rings, Armageddon
Liv Tyler is a very well-known face to anyone who has seen the genre-defining and award-winningLord of the Ringstrilogy—so almost everyone. She starred in all three movies as Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond and future Queen of Gondor, in arole that propelled Tyler forward to a variety of roles from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to shows likeHarlotson the BBC and9-1-1: Lone Staron Fox. Her career, however, had already started beforeLord of the Rings.
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Tyler’s most recognized pre-LotRrole is one that also includes part of her famous family. Tyler starred inMichael Bay’sArmageddon, a movie that notably features music by Aerosmith in its soundtrack—andLiv Tyler’s biological father is none other than Aerosmith’s lead singer Steven Tyler. Tyler’s mother Bebe Buell is also a public personality, as is her adoptive father, musician Todd Rundgren.
6Kiefer Sutherland
24, Fire Walk With Me
Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland is best known for his Emmy-winning run as Jack Bauer in theFox drama24, which aired from 2001 to 2014. His career, however, includes a long list of acting credits in movies likeMelancholia,Pompeii, andFire Walk with Me. Sutherland has also done some dubbing work, lending his voice and his facial motion capture movements to two games in theMetal Gearfranchise.
As his surname might suggest,Sutherland is the son of Donald Sutherland, who sadly passed away in the summer of 2024. Most famous for bringing to life Mr Bennet in the 2005 movie adaptation ofPride & Prejudiceand the chilling President Coriolanus Snow in theHunger Gamesfranchise, Donald Sutherland’s career was long and filled with successes. Sutherland’s mother, Shirley Douglas, was also an actress—she and Kiefer Sutherland appeared together in a 1997 production ofThe Glass Menagerie.
5Tracee Ellis Ross
Black-ish, Girlfriends
Tracee Ellis Ross has established herself as a recurring face on television, especially thanks to her role as Rainbow “Bow” Johnson, who appears inBlack-ishand its spin-off shows,Grown-ishandMixed-ish. Ross’s career, though, spans much beyond that and includes movies likeAmerican FictionandThe High Note, as well as other television shows likeGirlfriendsandReed Between the Lines.
Her work as Rainbow “Bow” Johnson gained Tracee Ellis Ross earned her a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy.
Ross’s parents are both household names, even though they belong to a slightly different area of entertainment than Ross herself by being both musicians rather than actors.Her father, Rober Ellis Silberstein, is a music executive who managed, among several other stars, “Motown Queen” Diana Ross.Diana Ross, who was the lead singer of best-selling girl group The Supremes, was married to Silberstein from 1971 to 1977 and is also Tracee Ellis Ross’s mother.
4Jennifer Aniston
Friends, Bruce Almighty
Jennifer Aniston is arguably a pillar of American television, even though her career has included several movies as well as television. Still, her ten-year role as Rachel Green onFriendshelped her get recognition all over the world and cemented her as the household name she still is. It also won her an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a SAG Award. Aniston’s other acting roles include rom-coms likeMarley & Me,He’s Just Not That Into You, and most recent shows likeThe Morning Show.
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Both of Jennifer Aniston’s parents worked in the entertainment industry and were based in Los Angeles, where Aniston was born. Her father, Greece-bornJohn Anthony Aniston, was a recurring face on NBC’sDays of Our Livesfor more than thirty years. Aniston’s mother, Nancy Dow, appeared in the 1967 movieThe Wild Wild Westand the 1969 filmThe Ice House.
3Chris Pine
Star Trek, Hell Or High Water
American actor Chris Pine actually comes from a long line of industry professionals that doesn’t just include his parents.His father, Robert Pine, starred on the television showCHiPswhich ran from 1977 to 1983and also had a myriad of smaller roles in dozens of other productions. Pine’s mother, Gwynne Gilford, worked in television in the Eighties, appearing inMasters of the UniverseandKate’s Secretamong others. Gilford’s mother was also an actress—Anne Gwynne, one of Hollywood’s very first scream queens.
Chris Pine himself has a career worthy of someone whose acting genes go back two generations. After his appearance in cult classicThe Princess Diaries 2, he went on to reboot the role of iconic starship captain James T. Kirk inStar Trekas well as star in a series of successes that went fromWesterns likeHell of High Waterto animated movies likeRise of the Guardiansto period pieces likeOutlaw King.
2Dakota Johnson
Fifty Shades Of Grey, The Lost Daughter
American actress Dakota Johnson rose to international fame when she starred as Anastasia Steele in theFifty Shadesmovie trilogy, the live-action adaptation of the book series of the same name by E.L. James. She had had quite the career before that, which included biopicThe Social Networkand the action comedy21 Jump Street, and that career did nothing but grow after the end of theFifty Shadesfranchise. Johnson starred, among others, in the Luca Guadagnino-directed remake ofSuspiria, in the psychological dramaThe Lost Daughter, and in thesuperhero movieMadame Web.
Both of Johnson’s parents are more than well-established within the industry.Her father is actor Don Johnson, who starred in shows likeMiami Viceand movies likeDjango UnchainedandKnives Out. Her mother is actress Melanie Griffith ofSomething WildandWorking Girlfame. Griffith herself is the daughter of actress Tippi Hedren, who famously starred in Alfred Hitchcock’sThe Birds. Johnson also considers her mother’s third husband, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, as her step-father.
1Jared Harris
Chernobyl, Foundation
It’s sometimes easier to recognize famous father-son duos since they usually share a surname, but the connection might not be that immediate—especially if the surname is somewhat common. That might be the case for English actor Jared Harris, who has starred in a considerable number of acclaimed television shows fromMad MentoThe Crown, fromChernobyltoThe Terror, fromThe ExpansetoFoundation. Even though his better-known roles are on television, Harris’s acting credits also include movies likeThe Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonandSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow.
Harris’s father was Richard Harris, one of the faces of the British New Wave of the early Sixties, whose long career spanned several decades and included two Best Actor nominations at the Academy Awards forThis Sporting LifeandThe Field. Among the roles that made him known to the wider public are Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Ridley Scott’sGladiatorand Professor Albus Dumbledore in the first two movies of theHarry Potterfranchise—Chamber of Secretsactually being his final film role.
