It’s often the case that acting genes run in the family, with plenty of famous parents actually appearing in movies alongside their own children. While we often hear derision around the proliferation of nepotism in Hollywood, there have been plenty of examples where famous parents have raised equally talented children.
Sometimes it’s the parents who bring their children into a project, giving audiences a chance to watch real family dynamics unfold on screen. Other times, the tables turn, and child stars grow up to eclipse their parents’ fame, and it’s the parents who step into supporting roles. Either way, these collaborations add a fascinating layer of authenticity to all these films.
Ryan O’Neal
With Tatum O’Neal In Paper Moon (1973)
Many will recognize 1970s star Ryan O’Neal for his breakout role in the romantic hit Love Story, but it was in Paper Moon that he appeared alongside his real-life daughter, Tatum. As the story of a Great Depression-era conman and the young girl who may or may not be his daughter, this road comedy was packed with heart.
While Ryan gave Paper Moon some star power, it was Tatum’s performance as the cunning kid Addie Loggins that truly stole the show. Tatum’s performance was so impressive that she became the youngest compeтιтive Oscar winner in Academy Awards history when she took home Best Supporting Actress for her role.
Will Smith
With Jaden Smith In The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Will Smith was one of the biggest movie stars in the world back in 2006, and it seemed his son was set to follow in his footsteps with an exceptional performance alongside his dad in The Pursuit of Happyness. At just six years old, Jaden exhibited a natural talent and was immensely likable playing his father’s son, Christopher Jr.
The pair attempted to repeat the success of The Pursuit of Happyness seven years later with M. Night Shyamalan’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie After Earth in 2013. This time, the results were a lot different, as audiences reacted badly to its dull, cliche-ridden sci-fi premise, and the two Smiths haven’t made a movie together since.
Clint Eastwood
With Alison Eastwood In тιԍнтrope (1984)
It seems filmmaking runs in the family because future director Alison Eastwood actually got her start appearing with her famous father, Clint, in several of his movies. What started as an uncredited extra role in Bronco Billy when she was just eight years old soon turned into a genuine co-starring situation when both Alison and Clint starred in тιԍнтrope.
тιԍнтrope was a neo-noir mystery where Clint played a single father and cop named Wes Block, pursuing a serial rapist murderer who is on the loose. Alison had a major role as Wes’s daughter, Amanda, although in recent years Alison has made the jump into directing herself with two feature films to her name, Rails & Ties and Battlecreek.
Brendan Gleeson
With Domhnall Gleeson In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)
Irish actor Brendan Gleeson has been part of some of the greatest movies of the past 30-plus years, and it was a thrill to see him appear with his son Domhnall in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Brendan joined the franchise as Mad-Eye Moody in The Goblet of Fire, with Domnhall later appearing as Bill, the oldest Weasley son.
The Gleeson family has had a great history of collaboration, as Brendan has often worked with his children. Another notable collaboration also included another of Brendan’s sons, Brian, when all three of them appeared in a stage production of the Enda Walsh play The Walworth Farce in Dublin in 2015.
Martin Sheen
With Charlie Sheen In Wall Street (1987)
As the star of 1970s classics like Badlands and Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen continued to deliver great performances in the 1980s, where he starred alongside his own son Charlie in Wall Street. As a satirical story addressing themes of corporate greed, materialism, and the moral conflict between wealth and integrity, this father-son pairing gained critical acclaim.
In 2010, Martin reunited on screen with his other son, Emilio Estevez, who wrote, directed, and produced The Way. This poignant drama follows a grieving father who, after his son dies while hiking the Camino de Santiago, chooses to complete the pilgrimage himself as a tribute, turning sorrow into a journey of reflection and healing.
Carrie Fisher
With Billie Lourd In Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
While Star Wars fans were excited to see the long-awaited return of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia in The Force Awakens, many might not be aware that this sci-fi sequel also included Carrie Fisher’s own daughter. That’s because Billie Lourd played the Resistance lieutenant Connix in what would be her feature film debut.
Lourd went on to reprise her role in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. While Fisher was also supposed to appear across the trilogy, she sadly pᴀssed away in 2016. However, Lourd stepped in to play her mother’s character in a brief flashback scene in The Rise of Skywalker, where her face was digitally replaced with Fisher’s likeness.
Diane Ladd
With Laura Dern In Wild At Heart (1990)
Diane Ladd consistently worked with great directors across her acclaimed career, including Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski. However, it was in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart that she appeared alongside her real-life daughter, Laura Dern, whom she had with her ex-husband and fellow actor Bruce Dern.
While Laura Dern was the female star of Wild at Heart opposite Nicolas Cage, Ladd gained an Academy Award nomination for her memorable role as her overbearing mother, Marietta Fortune. This was far from the pair’s only collaboration, as the mother-daughter duo also appeared in Rambling Rose, Citizen Ruth, Inland Empire, and in the HBO series Enlightened.
Leslie Mann
With Maude and Iris Apatow In This Is 40 (2012)
Raunchy comedy legend Judd Apatow often casts his wife, Leslie Mann, in his films, but starting with This Is 40, his projects became even more of a family affair. That’s because this Paul Rudd comedy not only features Mann but also the pair’s real-life daughters, Maude and Iris, in supporting roles.
Maude and Iris had already shown up in previous Apatow movies like Knocked Up and Funny People, but This Is 40 gave them more prominent roles as they embraced acting seriously. Maude has since found success outside her father’s films with a supporting role in Euphoria, while comedy fans might recognize Iris for her recurring role on Netflix’s Love.
Jerry Stiller
With Ben Stiller In Zoolander (2001)
Jerry Stiller is a veteran comedian who first found success as one half of the husband-and-wife duo Stiller and Meara in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1990s, Jerry maintained a career with memorable roles in sitcoms like Seinfeld and The King of Queens, while his son, Ben Stiller, also began to find success as a comedian during the same time.
Following hits like There’s Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, Ben arguably eclipsed his father in terms of fame, but the pair still appeared alongside each other in the cult favorite Zoolander. Here, Jerry played Derek Zoolander’s eccentric manager, and it was exciting to see these two comedy icons share the screen.
Janet Leigh
With Jamie Lee Curtis In The Fog (1980)
Considering Janet Leigh’s iconic performance in Psycho and Jamie Lee Curtis’s incredible turn in Halloween, it only makes sense that this mother-daughter team would appear alongside each other in a horror movie. This finally came true in 1980 with the release of John Carpenter’s The Fog, a supernatural story about a strange fog overtaking a small town.
While there was minimal interaction between Leigh and Curtis’s characters, for horror movie lovers, this felt like a historical team-up that combined two sides of horror movie history. Leigh and Curtis would also appear together in 1998 when Leigh gained a supporting role in the sequel Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.
