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It comes as no surprise that it is easier to break into Hollywood when you are already well-connected. Most of your favorite TV shows and films will be filled with stars with famous parents.
Nepotism kids are all over the industry. Ryan Murphy loves working with famous off-spring and most of your favorite it-girls have parents already established in the industry.
Just because these stars come from a successful and famous families, it doesn’t mean they aren’t talented and stars in their own right. These actors are incredibly talented and have overcome their own demons when it comes to growing up in the industry, after having turbulent relationships with their parents.
Here are some of the most successful stars with famous parents and the battles they overcome to reach the top of their industry.
8/8 Dakota Johnson Comes From Two Generations Of Hollywood Stars
The Fifty Shades of Grey star who has also appeared in The Lost Daughter, Suspiria and The High Note, comes from a long legacy of actors.
Dakota Johnson’s mother is American actress Melanie Griffith who starred in Lolita, Working Girl and Milk Money. Johnson’s father, Don Johnson is an American actor who is best known for playing James ‘Sonny’ Crockett in Miami Vice. Johnson told Vogue she decided to get into the family business for the same reasons anyone would. “I thought, this is just what my family does. It’s like, my dad’s a lawyer, so I’m a lawyer,” she said.
Her grandmother is Tippi Hedren, who starred in over 80 films and TV shows, including The Birds, Marnie and Citizen Ruth.
“The way I grew up is the way I grew up. I didn’t know different. My parents’ friends had children, and we understood each other’s lives. Besides, in LA, there’s a wider awareness of celebrity families,” Johnson has said about her upbringing.
7/8 Jamie Lee Curtis Has Two Iconic Acting Parents
Jamie Lee Curtis, famous for starring in the Halloween franchise, also comes from a Hollywood legacy. Her parents are Hollywood royalty, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis.
Janet is best known for her iconic role in Psycho and Tony for Some Like It Hot. The iconic duofirst met in 1950 at an RKO publicity party.
“I’m the child of movie stars. I watched my parents get face lifts and neck lifts,” Curtis told PEOPLE in the ’90s hosts Jason Sheeler and Andrea Lavinthal. “I watched their work diminish, I watched their fame not diminish. And the contradiction of a lot of fame, but not a lot of work, is really hard to navigate for people. Very hard to be famous but not be doing the thing that made you famous. And that for the rest of your life, you’re famous for something you did a long time ago, and you chase that attention.”
Curtis is aware of the benefits of having famous parents. “It’s important for me, given that I’m this bougie princess from Los Angeles – even if I claim I worked hard, I’ve never really worked hard a day in my life,” Curtis told The New Yorker in 2019.
6/8 Angelina Jolie’s Turbulent Relationship With Actor Father
Angelina Jolie is the child of Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. Barely a year after Jolie’s birth, Bertrand and Voight separated in 1976 due to his infidelity.
Jolie has famously had quite a fractious relationship with her outspoken acting father Jon Voight, and even petitioned the court to have the name “Voight” legally removed so that her middle name – Jolie – would become her surname. His performance in1969’s Midnight Cowboy was nominated for an Oscar and he went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a paraplegic war veteran in Coming Home in 1978.
In 2004, she told Premiere, “My father and I don’t speak. I don’t hold any anger toward him. I don’t believe that somebody’s family becomes their blood. Because my son’s adopted, and families are earned. When I had the final argument/disappointment with my father—we’ve had many off and on—I had thought we were breaking ground, and I realised we simply weren’t.”
The pair reconciled after the 2007 death if her mother. The Salt actress told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that she now has a good relationship with her father, stating they “have gotten to know each other – through grandchildren now”.
5/8 Rashida Jones’ Father Is A Famous Music Producer
Parks and Recreation actress, Rashida Jones, grew up in Hollywood as the daughter of superstar music producer Quincy Jones and Mod Squad and Twin Peaks star Peggy Lipton.
Initially, Jones wanted no part of show business or fame. Instead, she focused on academics, aiming to become a lawyer or a judge, but her opinion changed as a student a Harvard.
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“My dad is all about mastery,” she told Net-a-Porter about her famous father. “He said, ‘Whatever you do, you have to work really hard to get really good at it.'” Jones has won 28 GRAMMY Awards, tying him with Beyoncé as the most awarded living person and the second-highest GRAMMY winner of all time.
4/8 Domhnall Gleeson Is Son Of Fellow Harry Potter Actor
Donhnall Gleeson is the son of fellow Harry Potter actor, Brendan Gleeson. They only appeared in one scene together out of all eight Harry Potter films, where he played Bill Weasley and his father Mad Eye Moody.
Domhnall was first spotted by an agent at age 16, collecting an award on Brendan’s behalf. “My dad will always be a man I aspire to be, and he’ll always have the career that I aspire to have.”
Domhnall is not the only famous Gleeson son, brother Brian is an actor who has appeared in Peaky Blinders and Bad Sisters and their brother Rory has published a novel. The acting siblings frequently appear together, even making the comedy Frank of Ireland.
He told the Sun, “My mother is every bit as important to our family as my father. Both of them are fantastic parents.”
3/8 Emma Roberts’ Famous Father And Uncle
Screen Queens star Emma Roberts’ father is the older brother of Pretty Woman and Notting Hill star Julia Roberts. Eric Roberts is also an actor who starred in 1985 film Runaway Train and Star 80. Both roles saw him nominated for a Golden Globe with Runaway Train also seeing him nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 1986 Academy Awards
According to Vanity Fair, Eric claims responsibility for his daughter’s successful acting career: “If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities, as actresses, and I’m very proud of that.”
However, Emma feels like she made it all on her own. “I can’t say I’ve really learned from them directly, but obviously I love their movies,” she told Interview Magazine. “I wish I had a much more interesting answer to that, but we’ve never really talked about it.”
2/8 Kate Hudson’s Mother And Stepfather Are Hollywood Royalty
The How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days star is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. She comes from a family of famous actors.
Her parents Goldie Hawn and father, Bill Hudson made names for themselves in show business. Hawn was a recognizable face in cinema since the 1960s, taking home an Oscar for her performance in 1969’s Cactus Flower and continued star turns in movies like Shampoo (1975) and Private Benjamin (1980).
Goldie and Bill divorced in 1982 after having Kate and her younger brother, Oliver Hudson. Kate was raised by her stepdad Kurt Russell, whom Goldie began dating in the early ’80s. Kurt Russell began his acting career at a young age and rose to prominence in the 1980s, starring in numerous John Carpenter films like the 1981 dystopian action flick Escape From New York.
“I never thought about the kind of support I had because it just felt like who we were,” Kate also told PEOPLE. “Mom was so available to being my greatest cheerleader. She made a lot of sacrifices, this one!”
Hudson has also spoken about Russell being there for her growing up. Kate has a less positive relationship with her biological father, who was a vocalist in The Hudson Brothers and ha a minor career in cinema.
1/8 Emily In Paris Star, Lily Collin, Has Famous Father
Actress Lily Collins is the youngest daughter of musician Phil Collins, who he shares with his second wife, Jill Tavelman.
Phil Collins is known for iconic songs including In the Air Tonight, Two Hearts and Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now). He also was the frontman and drummer in the band Genesis.
Lily and Phil have had a rocky relationship over the years, and the Love, Rosie actress previously opened up about how she believed her eating disorder was linked to him.
Speaking at Sundance back in 2017, she said, “I couldn’t handle the pain and confusion surrounding my dad’s divorce, and I was having a hard time balancing being a teenager with pursuing two different grown-up careers. Many of my deepest insecurities stem from these issues with my dad.”
She also released an open letter to her father, where she wrote, “I forgive you for not always being there when I needed and for not being the dad I expected. I forgive the mistakes you made. And although it may seem like it’s too late, it’s not. There’s still so much time to move forward.” The pair have since reconciled.
