Nepotism in the Mainstream?

G

Gox19

Is it just me, or has anyone noticed that to 'make' it in Hollywood, you generally have to be either related to someone already in the business (i.e. father was a screenwriter or brother was an actor etc etc) or just incredibly lucky?

I bet if you look at most leading actors, you'll find some family connection that, most likely was instrumental in them becoming rich and famous.

Anyone else noticed this? Or is it just me?
 
I absolutely agree with you on this.

I think this is a big issue in Hollywood (I'm planning an article on it for my site) because it seems that dynasties dominate all the major film professions. I think it's most notable in actors (more so that director to directors or writers to writers).

I guess part of it is simply that if you grow up in a house with Kirk Douglas you're going to pick up acting tips, so that probably accounts for why a lot of them are pretty good. But the amount of potential talent that is ignored because roles go to peoples kids or sisters or whatever family member is (hypothetically) devastating.

There's also a problem with child actors. If you look at the top child actors in the world it's often difficult to see how they got their big break. Well, it turns out that most of their parents are agents or casting directors or former actors...etc, i.e. People who can get their kids a foot in the industry's door. I often use the example of Skandar Keynes (who is atrocious as Edmund in the Narnia series). Well it seems to me that it's no coincidence that his family is one of the biggest power-dynasties in the country and that his ancestors include John Maynard Keynes, Charles Darwin and Queen Elizabeth I.

But then again, in an industry where who you know is everything, can we expect anything else?
 
You know Nick, I bet if everyone picked 10 random mainstream actors/actresses from the top of their head, went to imdb or wikipedia to check their background, they'd find all or most already have an advantage due to nepotism.

Heck, I just thought of 10 off the top of my head and look what I found:

Zooey Deschanel: father a cinematographer, mother an actress
Daniel Radcliffe: father a literary agent, mother a casting agent
Kristen Stewart: father is a tv producer who has worked for Fox
Keira Knightley: father an actor, mother an award-winning playwright
Jamie Lee Curtis: father was Tony Curtis, mother was Janet Leigh
Casey Affleck: Brother of Ben Affleck
Jennifer Aniston: father is actor John Aniston
Drew Barrymore: father was actor John Barrymore
Jake Gyllenhaal: father is director Stephen Gyllenhaal, mother is Naomi Gyllenhaal
Charlie Sheen: father is actor Martin Sheen

I could list more but I can't be bothered. imo, nepotism is rife in Hollywood. Anyone not born into a position of privilage and/or very lucky will never make it. And I have a very hard time believing any of the list I just posted would have made it if they were just your average joe.
 
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And most Ironworkers came from an Ironworking family. You learn what you grow up with. The moral of the story is to pick your parents well.
 
directorik said:
It’s just you.

And Nick.

Of the top ten actors under the age of 30 (Shia La Beouf, Seth
Rogan, Paul Dano, Jesse Eisenberg, Ben Whinshaw, Ben Foster, Emile
Hirch, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Gosling)
only one might have a family connection that mattered.
Click to expand...

With Wikipedia as my aid I shall explore how these actors got into films. To quote Wikipedia ' LaBeouf has said that he comes from "five generations of performers" and was "acting when [he] came out of the womb."' One down. Seth Rogen I will give you, but I think is different because he's first and foremost a comedian. Jesse Eisenberg's mother is a performer (Wikipedia calls her a clown, but I've read that it's more general) and as a result he went to performing arts school. Less direct but still something there. Ben Whishaw's British and we don't believe in nepotism ( :D ) but nothing there that I can see. I don't know how Ben Foster snuck on that list. Emile Hirsch's mother is a visual artist. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's father ran a news station and his maternal grandfather was Michael Gordon a Hollywood film director best known for Pillow Talk. Jake Gyllenhall's father is director/producer Stephen Gyllenhall and his mother is screenwriter Naomi Foner (his sister is also Maggie Gyllenhall). Ryan Gosling seems a pretty sound guy, he checks out.

That was exhausting, but definitely more than one family connection there.

In a recent list of the top young actors (Bryce Dallas Howard,
Michael Cera, Mila Kunis, Katie Jarvis, Kristen Bell, Jessica
Alba, Jessica Biel, Anne Hathaway, Ellen Page, Emma Roberts, Emily
Blunt, Michelle Williams, Alexis Bledel, Kristen Stewart, Mia
Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, America Ferrera, Dakota Fanning,
Kristen Stewart, Amanda Seyfried, Anna Paquin) you have two who
have gotten a leg up due to family connections.
Click to expand...

Bryce Dallas Howard is daughter of Ron Howard. Michael Cera is a good Canadian kid. Couldn't find information on what Mila Kunis' parents did for a living. Katie Jarvis is a very good exception to this rule and that's possibly why the story of her casting is so famous. Kristen Bell's father is a television news director. Jessica Alba, I would argue, is a different kettle of fish but I'll concede has no links to show business. Jessica Biel was a model first, so different beast. Anne Hathaway's mother is an actress. Ellen Page's parents seem artsy but I can't find a link. Emma Roberts' father is Eric Roberts and aunt is Julia Roberts. Emily Blunt's uncle is an MP and she went to the same school as my sister (she is from a very posh, well to do family). Michelle Williams' father is an extremely succesful and famous stock trader (not a strong link but a good leg up). Alexis Bledel (her first language is Spanish apparently...) has no strong link. Kristen Stewart's father is a Fox television producer and her mother is a script supervisor. Mia Wasikowska's parents are both fairly well known photographers. Robert Pattinson's mum was a model. America Ferrara seems to have worked for her dollars. Dakota Fanning is good too, but her sister Elle? Not so much. Amanda Seyfried started as a model, so different career trajectory. Anna Paquin is safe as houses too.

I was going to do this for all your points, but it's tiring :D

I've highlighted ones that I think have some nepotism link.
 
As much as I hate the banning of this guy (for the record I'm
against it) now we can have an interesting, intelligent discussion
about this.

So Nick, if someone comes from a family that has any artistic
connection it’s nepotism? If someone went to a performing arts
school it’s nepotism? If a person started as something else
(model, comic, photographer) it’s nepotism? If someone comes from
a well-to-do family it’s nepotism?

Just trying to understand the ground rules. You are using the word
outside of its usual meaning and expanding it to any connection at
all. Is that correct?
 
That's not what I was intending to do.

I discounted models-turned-actresses because I think that's a very different path into the business. But I did include people whose parents were models, because I think that, in all probability, that's how they managed to get their break. The same with photographers and performers.

I will acknowledge that going to performing arts school is not in itself nepotism. But then again those were a random list of actors and I just wanted to see what sort of links they had to show business through their family. It would be easy for me to compose a list of 100 actors who have benefited from nepotism in a glaringly obvious way.

If I wanted to be an actor the first thing I would do would be to get some training, probably. But how would I go about trying to get an audition? I guess I'd go to those people in the industry who could potentially give me some work and ask them for help. That's natural and I do it all the time in real life, I guess we all do. If those connections were either my parents or colleagues of my parents then they're the people I'd go to. It may not be nepotism in the conventional sense of just placing family members in positions of influence, but it's certainly the means by which a disproportionate amount of actors manage to break into the industry.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing necessarily either, my problem is more with child actors. They seem to drudge up incredibly average child actors who are the children of agents and casting directors rather than doing open casting calls and trying to find some real talent. Instead, the only kids who break into the industry are those whose parents are either knowledgeable or pushy enough to get them meetings with casting directors, agents and producers at a young age. That, to me, seems wrong.
 
I have to agree that you learn what you grow up with. But at the same time, having family members who are already successful in a given industry couldn't hurt.
 
directorik said:
As much as I hate the banning of this guy (for the record I'm
against it) now we can have an interesting, intelligent discussion
about this.
Click to expand...
directorik, with respect, you shouldn't go "on the record" against something, when you don't know all the facts. There were other posts you don't see and proof that this member was trolling.
 
I don't think its as much a "who you know" deal. But, do they have talent? If you have talent and come from a family in the business, you will probably get a quicker break. Because your parents or family members can get you connected.

What about people like Streep, Nicholson, Pacino, De Niro? Aren't they first generation? Are their kids knocking down the doors?

Zooey Deschanel:
Daniel Radcliffe:
Kristen Stewart:
Keira Knightley:
Jamie Lee Curtis:
Casey Affleck:
Jennifer Aniston:
Drew Barrymore:
Jake Gyllenhaal:
Charlie Sheen:

All of these people have talent, and they're all pretty.
 
NickClapper said:
It would be easy for me to compose a list of 100 actors who have benefited from nepotism in a glaringly obvious way.
Click to expand...

How many lasted any length of time after having to stand on their own merits? And if they did last, does their contribution to the industry overshadow the "shady" way they entered?

Edit: What ussinners said.
 
It makes sense that they should have some talent, that's genetics after all. And there's no better school to go to than growing up in a household with a great actor.

But looking at that list, whilst they all have some talent and are pretty, there are some distinctly average actors on that list, and there are some brilliant actors who never get a break.

I'm not against it fundamentally, I just think that casting agents should be compelled to fish in the ocean rather than just running a hand net through their garden pond.

Is this some repressed resentment on my part? Possibly. I realised a week or so ago that sad fact that I can never be a child actor... :(

:D
 
indietalk said:
directorik, with respect, you shouldn't go "on the record" against something, when you don't know all the facts. There were other posts you don't see and proof that this member was trolling.
Click to expand...
Fair enough.

I should have said "in my opinion". I apologize and will be more careful in the future.
 
Gox is a troll if ever I've seen one.

I'll go on the record for something. I support nepotism. If you had a position of influence, and one of your family members possessed a talent in the same field, wouldn't you want to give them an opportunity? Ben casting Casey in "Gone, Baby, Gone" is a perfect example of what I think is right about Hollywood. I don't think there's enough of it.
 
It works in all fields, really. My mother was a computer operator (retired) and my step father still is an electronics engineer. Grew up in Silicon Valley. So it was only natural that my bread & butter came from something I grew up with.

Film was and will always be a passion as will a love for movies. But sadly I wasn't born into it. Thank God for Indietalk.
 
NickClapper said:
It would be easy for me to compose a list of 100 actors who have benefited from nepotism in a glaringly obvious way.
Click to expand...
And it would be easy for me to compose a list of 100 who haven't.

My random list (which I still have if it's relevant) was the top ten
or twenty of current actors. I didn't do as much research as you
so my numbers were off. I guess I don't see things like coming
from a well-to-do family, having gone to performing arts school or
parents who are photographers as giving an actor an advantage
they don't deserve.

No doubt that people born into the business have an advantage.
Many of them have proven themselves (Jeff Bridges, Drew Barrymoore,
Michael Douglas) and many have failed. I just don't see nepotism as
being as pervasive as you do. I don't see the business as a closed door
or casting directors unwilling to find real talent.

No disagreement that the parents who are knowledgeable and pushy
get their children more auditions. It's a damn tough business. But all
the casting directors I have known, worked with or dated (!) are always
on the look out for new, real talent when it comes to children. They also
understand the business and sometimes giving the child of an agent or
a studio exec or a director a leg up is good business.

It can be all too easy to look at those who get in based on nepotism while
missing those who become "rich and famous" on their own talent. Especially
when one it looking for a reason to dismiss "Hollywood".

Something I know you aren't doing, Nick.
 
My main area of interest on this subject is whether the legion of extremely average child actors that are around at the moment really deserved their break. My favourite actor of all time (Alan Alda) is a classic example of someone who had famous parents who got them into the industry but then turned out to have genuine talent themselves. And of course there are scores more who have had similar career paths, matching or even exceeding their parents achievements. Then there are dynasties like the Coppolas and the Redgraves where everyone gets a go and you get wildly varying degrees of talent and success. A good example is Sofia Coppola. Daddy wanted her to be an actress so stuck her in Godfather III, where she was awful. But it turns out she's a pretty good director on her own merits...

And yes there are lots of actors who have worked real hard, got lucky breaks or just managed to get into Hollywood through their own industry and I would never take anything away from those people.

My curiosity is more peaked by stories like the casting for Harry Potter. When they were looking for a young actor to play the part of the boy wizard (probably the single biggest child role in history) they held open casting calls around the country and auditioned lots of youngsters. So how did Daniel Radcliffe end up with the part? Well his parents are agents and on a night out at the theatre the family were recognised by producer David Heyman. He went up to them and was struck by Daniel's similarity to Harry and offered him a screen test. Reluctantly the parents agreed and the rest is, as they say, history.

But is Daniel Radcliffe a good actor? Not really. He's passable but he'd never be able to break into the industry now at 21. Were there better actors available to play Harry? Undoubtedly, but casting one of them, without a history of performing and the security that affords would have been a gamble. The Potter producers have done it time and time again, holding open casting calls but instead just casting the easiest option. Now they've managed to make a whole bunch of British kids into extremely bankable Hollywood stars without much talent swinging along behind them.

There are counter arguments aplenty, but the point that I'm trying to make (without wanting to sound like this is an idea that I frequently get hung up on) is that it goes on all the time, often without success. A lot of kids can't forge a professional career on their parents coat tails and so after a couple of roles it begins to balance itself out. But when you are taking on massive roles that will effectively hand the actor or actress a career for life, then it seems slightly unfair.

As for the coming from a well to do family remark, I was being slightly glib, but it roughly holds true. I went to school with Emily Blunt's cousin and his father is a local MP (who recently rocked the political scene by leaving his wife and coming out as gay) but the whole Blunt family are extremely wealthy and prominent. This isn't so much nepotism, but if little Emily says 'I want to be an actress' then I have no doubt that a lot of doors opened to her that wouldn't have opened to someone like Katie Jarvis when she first said 'I want to be an actress'. But I don't really have a problem with this. I like Emily Blunt :)
 
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