12 rising actors you didn’t know have famous parents

Brianna ZiglerTue, October 20, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC

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Nico Parker; Homer Gere; Ella BeattyCredit: Darren Gerrish/Getty; Arnold Jerocki/Getty; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Love them or hate them, the bottom line is this: Nepo babies aren’t going anywhere.

People like to act as though nepotism is a recent thing, but the children of stars have been staples in Hollywood for decades. Household names like Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Douglas, Liza Minnelli, Jane Fonda, and Mariska Hargitay are all the product of Old Hollywood actors — but you don’t see anyone complaining about Cabaret or Grace & Frankie! Besides, getting a leg up from one’s parents is a time-honored tradition, especially when it comes to a line of work as fruitful as acting. If your mom is Melanie Griffith and your dad is Don Johnson, wouldn’t you at least try milking that?

So, it’s hard to begrudge every new batch of nepo babies simply because of their inherited fast-pass to fame — what really matters is what they bring to the table themselves. And many are putting in the work to make their own name.

Below, we take a look at 12 rising actors who you might not have realized come from famous parents.

01 of 12

Esther McGregor

Esther McGregor at the 2025 Gotham Television Awards in New York CityCredit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Esther McGregor, daughter of Ewan McGregor, started following in her dad’s footsteps in 2022 after making a brief cameo in her dad’s Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi. That same year, she appeared in the coming-of-age drama series High School, based on the memoir of the same name, and in 2024, she joined the cast of the Prime Video series We Were Liars.

In 2026, McGregor was cast in two more high-profile projects: a television adaptation of the Life is Strange video game and the eagerly anticipated Prime Video adaptation of the Fourth Wing book series, where she will play lead character Violet Sorrengail. She also starred opposite Zach Braff in the biographical drama Clean Hands.

On becoming an actor, McGregor told Vanity Fair that it took a while for her parents to let her join the family business. “My parents never let me do anything onscreen until I was old enough to executively make the decision,” she explained, “and also old enough to be a human on set.”

02 of 12

Keen Ruffalo

Keen Ruffalo and Mark Ruffalo at the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards in 2024Credit: Monica Schipper/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Mark Ruffalo’s son Keen began as an extra in his dad’s 2017 Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok, and the now-25-year-old has since decided to make a real career in acting. His next two roles, on the shows Task and Hal & Harper, were also projects starring his father. However, in 2025, Ruffalo began striking out on his own, snagging a role in the coming-of-age comedy Nimrods and joining the main cast of the hit Prime Video series Sterling Point.

When COVID-19 hampered his plans to get into fashion design, Ruffalo decided that he wanted to explore a career in acting. After studying the craft at conservatories, his father finally gave his approval. “Finally, my dad saw a play that I did, and he was like, ‘You might be ready now,’” he recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. “He gave me the A-OK to go out into the world.”

03 of 12

Joe Anders

Joe Anders at the ‘Bonus Track’ screening during the 67th BFI London Film Festival in 2023Credit: Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/WireImage

You probably wouldn’t guess by his last name that Joe Anders comes from Hollywood royalty, but he’s the son of Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes. (Additionally, his sister is actress Mia Threapleton, who starred in the Wes Anderson film The Phoenician Scheme.)

Anders made his acting debut with a small role in his dad’s Oscar-nominated film 1917 (2019), where he was credited as Joe Mendes. He then changed his stage surname for his credit on the Channel 4 television drama I Am Ruth (2022), which he costarred in alongside his mother and sister.

After a small part in the 2023 war drama Lee, and his first starring role in the coming-of-age romantic comedy Bonus Track (2023), Anders was cast in Zoe Kazan’s East of Eden series and Apple TV’s adaptation of Cape Fear. But he doesn’t just have acting aspirations like his mom — he also has screenwriting aspirations like his father. Anders wrote the screenplay for Winslet’s directorial debut Goodbye June (2025).

04 of 12

Aran Murphy

Aran Murphy at the ‘Klara And The Sun’ Gala during the 70th BFI London Film Festival in 2026Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage

Cillian Murphy’s 19-year-old son Aran went viral after his red carpet appearance at the premiere of the HBO comedy Youth, where fans noted that the young actor is the spitting image of his father. Fall 2026 then effectively became Murphy’s proper debut as an actor, following a small role in the 2022 indie found footage film Lola. After Youth premiered in September, October features two more major projects for him: the HBO legal series War and the Taika Waititi feature Klara and the Sun.

Though Murphy admitted to Variety that he is familiar with much of his father’s work, he sees Cillian less as an influence and more an encouraging and supportive figure in his career goals. “I think living with someone who’s in the public eye, the novelty of that wears off pretty quick,” he explained.

05 of 12

Homer Gere

Homer Gere at the Disney+ London screening of FX’s ‘The Shards’ in 2026Credit: Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty

Though he initially thought he’d be a scientist, Homer Gere made waves in 2026 after appearing in both season 3 of Euphoria and the Ryan Murphy adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ The Shards. But the 26-year-old son of Richard Gere is just getting started — he was also cast in the upcoming Oliver Stone project White Lies, starring Josh Hartnett, Willem Dafoe, and Ellen Barkin.

On watching his son follow in his footsteps, Richard told PEOPLE, “I’m proud of him on two levels. One, he’s really good. He really kind of preternaturally knows what he’s doing. But he’s also handling it really well. He’s a good kid. He’s a really good young man who kind of gets it, and this is not an easy job. Not everyone can function within it. So I think he can stay.”

Gere revealed how his father helped him ahead of his role on The Shards: “Most of the advice I got from my dad was how to carry yourself on set and how to make the job kind of work for you.”

06 of 12

West Duchovny

West Duchovny at the CHANEL party to celebrate the debut of the Lucky Chance Diner in 2023Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

West Duchovny didn’t want to be an actor like her parents, David Duchovny and Téa Leoni. She had already gotten into college for pre-med when she ended up performing in a play to help out a friend. She liked the experience more than she thought she would and decided to explore it further.

Both of Duchovny’s parents were initially hesitant when she told them she had accidentally caught the acting bug. “When they saw the play they were complimentary, but like, they’re my parents,” she told Women’s Wear Daily. “But they were surprised just because it came out of nowhere. Really did. My dad had less strong feelings about it than my mom. My mom definitely was trepidatious. She grew up in the industry; that was very difficult for women. That we are now talking about more and changing, slowly but surely. And you know, I’m her daughter, and she was scared for me to enter that world.”

Eventually, her parents got on board with her decision, and since then, Duchovny has even appeared alongside her dad in an episode of the X-Files revival in 2018. Her other credits include main roles on Painkiller and Saint X, and a recurring role on the Peacock breakout The Five-Star Weekend. She made her film debut in The Report (2019), and also appeared in A Mouthful of Air (2021) and Linoleum (2022).

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07 of 12

Harlow Jane

Harlow Jane at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Murder At Yellowstone City’ in 2022Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty

Harlow Jane’s interest in acting isn’t a huge surprise: She comes from the acting dynasty that is the Arquette family. Her mother is Oscar winner Patricia Arquette, and her father, Thomas Jane, has appeared in everything from Boogie Nights to Arrested Development. However, like other nepo babies, Jane didn’t want to be an actor at first. Her original career choice was law.

When she eventually realized she enjoyed acting, her family wanted her to figure her career out for herself. “My mom was like, ‘If you want to do it, you do it, but it’s not my job to teach you how to do it or help you out in any way,’” she told PEOPLE. “‘You’re going to figure this out on your own. It’s going to be hard; you’re going to cry. It’s going to suck, and you’re going to deal with it, if you really want that to work for you.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’”

Like West Duchovny, Jane also appeared on The Five-Star Weekend, and has been cast in two more prominent projects, Evil Genius and The Off Weeks. Her film credits so far include indies I Love Us (2021), Dig (2022), and She Came to Me (2023).

08 of 12

Nico Parker

Nico Parker at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ in 2025Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Nico Parker bears a strong resemblance to her mother, Westworld star Thandiwe Newton, but her father is also director Ol Parker, who helmed Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) and Ticket to Paradise (2022) — the latter of which featured his daughter. “I was lucky to be able to experience that at such a young age,” she told Entertainment Weekly, referring to her time growing up on sets, “but because I was so little, it was just like, this is just my parents’ job. I didn’t see it as a flashy, exciting thing.”

However, Parker is aware of her nepo baby status and what it means. “To not be aware of it would be silly,” she told British Vogue. “I don’t want to discredit myself, I work really hard, but to say that [mine and Ripley’s] entries into the industry weren’t abnormal would be unfair. They were. I’m really conscious it gets you in the room. What you do in the room is up to you, but there are so many people who would kill to be in that room…”

Parker made her screen debut in Tim Burton’s live-action adaptation of Dumbo. From there, she appeared with her mother in Reminiscence (2021), led the live-action How to Train Your Dragon (2025), and scored a key role on HBO’s The Last of Us. She can also be seen in the dramedy Poetic License (2025), where she met her current partner, fellow nepo baby Cooper Hoffman.

09 of 12

Charlie Hall

Charlie Hall at The Hollywood Reporter and Instagram: Next Gen 2024 in West Hollywood, CalifCredit: Michael Kovac/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Charlie Hall’s nepo status has flown somewhat under the radar since he made his acting debut in 2019 on Veep, but his first role was directly tied to his industry connections: He’s the son of the show’s star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Hall’s brother, Henry, has also pursued acting, and while her sons’ decisions to become actors surprised Louis-Dreyfus, she’s been very supportive of them. “I love it! It’s a big surprise,” she told PEOPLE. “My son Henry just finished shooting a series for Amazon, and Charlie’s in all sorts of shows, Single Drunk Female, Sex Lives of College Girls, and so on.”

“The fact that my children are able to pull that off gives me endless joy,” she added.

In addition to Single Drunk Female and The Sex Lives of College Girls, Hall has also appeared in two Ryan Murphy Monster installments: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and The Ed Gein Story. In 2026, he had a main role on the Apple TV series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed and was cast in the upcoming fourth season of The White Lotus — one of his parents’ favorite shows.

10 of 12

Ella Beatty

Ella Beatty at the premiere of ‘Act One’ during the 2026 Tribeca FestivalCredit: Michael Loccisano/Getty

As the daughter of Hollywood royalty — Annette Bening and Warren Beatty — Ella Beatty made quite a splash starring in the controversial Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. “From when I was a very little girl, I watched their artistry,” she said of her parents in an interview with Vanity Fair, “the side that happens at home when it’s not necessarily visible to the world. I absolutely have many memories of being sidled up to my mom, watching her go over material.”

But the young actress willingly admits her good fortune. “I totally acknowledge that there is an inherent privilege and exposure that comes from having well-known actors as parents,” she told Vogue. “And I really hope that I can offer something meaningful.”

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Beatty only has a few credits to her name so far, but they’re impressive. In addition to The Lizzie Borden Story, she appeared in Murphy’s 2024 miniseries Feud: Capote vs. The Swans as Truman Capote’s surrogate daughter Kerry O’Shea. She made her film debut in Mary Bronstein’s buzzy black comedy If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) and will appear in the highly-anticipated adaptation of The Bell Jar opposite Billie Eilish.

11 of 12

Deacon Phillippe

Deacon Reese Phillippe on August 5, 2021 in Los AngelesCredit: Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images

In September 2026, Deacon Phillippe made his feature film debut in the sci-fi thriller Brother Save Us, after appearing in episodes of Never Have I Ever and Motorheads. The son of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, he recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, which he insisted was necessary to him becoming an actor regardless of his family pedigree. Still, he knows he has a leg up.

“I acknowledge that I’m extremely lucky, but you know, at the same time, I hold myself to a standard,” Phillippe told Variety. “I’m not really looking to prove anything to anyone but myself to try to be the best version I can be, the best person I can be and work as hard as I can.

12 of 12

Ty Tennant

Ty Tennant at the premiere of ‘Fragments Of Us’ during BFI Flare 2026Credit: Ming Yeung/Getty

24-year-old Ty Tennant already has some solid credits to his name, including House of the Dragon, Good Omens, Doom Patrol, and the 2019 biographical drama Tolkien. It certainly doesn’t hurt that his adoptive father is beloved Scottish actor David Tennant.

Tennant did get to act alongside his father twice, first for Around the World in 80 Days and again on Good Omens. David spoke to Metro about the unique experience of acting with his son. “Suddenly you’re on set and having to interact in a slightly different way – and it’s a mixture of kind of parental pride and worry, I suppose,” he explained.

“But actually, the truth is that he’s so professional and assured and at home on set that I just really loved it,” he added.

on Entertainment Weekly

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