The White Lotus star Patrick Schwarzenegger, who is the son of movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist Maria Shriver, has recently raised eyebrows for his response to claims that he’s a “nepo baby”.
Still, there’s no denying the children of famous parents have a disproportionately large presence in Hollywood.
Not that that means they’re lacking talent ― Redditor Rude_Lifeguard recently asked members of r/popculturechat to name some “nepo babies that are more talented than their parents”.
Here are some of the most-liked (and often pretty controversial) responses:
1) Chris Pine
“His dad was an actor mostly known for a ’70s cop show [CHiPS].”
Credit: u/missbunnyfantastico
Redditor u/curleecrimp added: “My fun fact I frequently share is that his dad, Robert Pine, also played the Zorp cult leader guy [Herb] on Parks And Rec.”
2) Jane Fonda
Credit: u/ventricles
“Henry Fonda [her actor father] just has so much on-screen presence and I have never seen him give a nothing less than stellar performance... but so does Jane!” u/faulcaesar weighed in.
“I think Jane is probably more versatile (Henry only played against type a few times) and has different eras.”
3) Miley Cyrus
“I know Miley is technically a ‘nepo baby’ but [her father, singer] Billy Ray Cyrus... would’ve fed into complete obscurity by this point if it weren’t for his ultra-famous daughter.
“I think it’s fair to give Billy Ray Cyrus the title of nepo dad at this point.”
Credit: u/SirJoeffer
4) Ben Stiller
“Not to dunk on Jerry Stiller or Anne Meara at all, but they were incredibly talented actors and comedians while Stiller is an incredibly talented actor, comedian, writer, director...”
Credit: u/InitialDriver6422
“Jerry was really influential for his time but I agree with this wholeheartedly,” u/PlanitDuck said.
“Plus Ben made Severance which might be the best show on television. It’s so much harder now to stand out than when Jerry was big in his day and Ben just has been putting out hits for decades.”
“His dad was a filmmaker and actor but he was never as famous as his son.”
Credit: u/PinkCadillacs
“I have to slightly disagree. I think Downey Sr was a pretty interesting film director and I think his work stands on its own,” u/Puzzleheaded-Fix-915 responded.
6) Jack Quaid
“Time will tell if Jack Quaid can surpass the best of his parents (Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan), but I’ve enjoyed his work very much.”
Credit: u/Stardustchaser
“I think he will critically surpass his parents. It will be hard to pass his mom at the box office,” EffectiveOutside9721 commented.
Do you agree with these?