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Hollywood Nepotism: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly


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11 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is that kids who grow up with famous (or at least rich) parents don't have to worry about frivolous things like rent, electricity, or food. 

That is what bothers me about any rich kid who brags about making their own way. It's pretty easy to make your own way (take a creative but unstable job/start a company/whatever) when you don't have to pay off thousands in student loans or have to really worry about how you're going to pay your bills, or in a worst case scenario, you always have big fancy mansion to go back to if things don't really work out. 

For me there's a big difference between using nepotism to get in the door and using nepotism because you feel entitled to a job even if you're not qualified. 

 

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2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Agree.  I wish people were so much more transparent about what advantages they had in general.  Not just nepotism but advantages that the 'normal people' don't have.

I agree but I hope you get the chance to read Michael J. Fox's account about how surprised at how astonished he became via all the privileges (e.g. a very wide range of freebies) he got bestowed upon become a 'top tier' star after Family Ties and Back to the Future put him on the top of the sitcom and movie radars (and having spent roughly a decade as a struggling, starving performer on the verge of throwing in the towel). He said that his wife Tracy Pollan said that she was surprised that there isn't Celebrity Parking

On the chilling side, he also expressed dismay at how his own late father William 'the strongest man in the world' who'd been a Canadian military man turned into a pile of cringing jello when he accidentally damaged  part of his son's Emmy statuette which the younger Mr. Fox believed would have never happened had he not become a celeb. 

Of course, so far, only their son Sam appears to have attempted to participate in  the 'family business'. 

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I wouldn't say Michael had a life of privilege.  No one who started out as a child actor did because they didn't really have adult consent to enter the business.  Michael developed Parkinson's back in 1991 (and three other people who were on the same TV show as he did did as well, but, not sure if there is a related cause).  

When I made my comment I was thinking more about how celebrities hide things that they do like plastic surgery , liposuction and pretend that it's all natural.  Not people like MJ Fox who were for one reason or another pushed into the limelight because of his stage parents.  I wouldn't wish to have his life or anyone else who couldn't really decide for themselves or were taken out of school.  

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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(edited)

As she's getting older, Maude Apatow is starting to remind me a lot (in a good way) of Troian Bellisario, another nepotism baby who is actually pretty talented and has a chill vibe to her. I liked her in This is 40 and it seems like a lot of people like her work as the wallflower type on Euphoria.

I don't know if either of them are destined for major stardom (Troian is 36 which generally means it's over at that point for any real breakthrough to happen for a woman unless they get a break like Melissa Leo or Jessica Chastain) but I'm glad they're around. I really hope Troian considers becoming a showrunner at some point- it wouldn't surprise me if she was as good as her dad was at that.

Remembering This is 40 reminds me of Ava Sambora...I'm kind of surprised she didn't do really do much to venture into acting. It seems like she picked college instead although she does seem to be picking up little gigs here and there. Disney used her once on an episode of Good Luck Charlie- maybe she decided that kind of machine wasn't for her? 

Edited by methodwriter85
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Dallas Bryce Howard is coming into her own as a director.  She is doing amazing work over at Disney directing episodes of The Mandolorian and Book of Boba Fett.  I like her as an actress (when I recognize her Dallas Bryce Howard is not Jessica Chestain) but she has been doing great work as a director. 

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On 11/22/2021 at 8:40 PM, Blergh said:

On the chilling side, he also expressed dismay at how his own late father William 'the strongest man in the world' who'd been a Canadian military man turned into a pile of cringing jello when he accidentally damaged  part of his son's Emmy statuette which the younger Mr. Fox believed would have never happened had he not become a celeb. 

Ringo Starr in the 1995 Beatles Anthology doc told this story of after the Beatles first made it big, he was visiting his aunt(which he had done many times before). Someone accidentally walked into the living room table spilling a some of his tea from his cup into the dish it was on.  Everyone suddenly jumped up going "He can't have that!" and cleaned it up, which would never have happened before. He immediately realized that things were different now.

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On 1/26/2022 at 7:33 PM, Ms.Moon said:

Dallas Bryce Howard is coming into her own as a director.  She is doing amazing work over at Disney directing episodes of The Mandolorian and Book of Boba Fett.  I like her as an actress (when I recognize her Dallas Bryce Howard is not Jessica Chestain) but she has been doing great work as a director. 

You've got name reversed. It's Bryce Dallas 😀

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So Bridget Fonda was in the news:

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bridget-fonda-rare-public-appearance-birthday

Always thought Bridget was very talented. 
Thought this old 1993 Movieline interview requoted was interesting, about as “honest” an answer I’ve heard one of the Beneficiaries say about the subject. 

Quote

I wonder what kind of satisfaction I would have with where I am now if I wasn’t part of a family that has done such phenomenal work," said Fonda, the daughter of Peter Fonda, granddaughter of Henry Fonda and niece of Jane Fonda.

"I wonder what it would feel like to know that you’ve made it completely under your own steam. I sometimes wonder if I would be more at peace if I could know I made it by myself, instead of always wondering how many times my name got me in the door."

 

 

Edited by caracas1914
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On 1/29/2022 at 2:54 PM, caracas1914 said:

"I wonder what it would feel like to know that you’ve made it completely under your own steam. I sometimes wonder if I would be more at peace if I could know I made it by myself, instead of always wondering how many times my name got me in the door."

 

Who does she think she's kidding???

Obviously, much of Hollywood is all about nepotism of one sort or another.  Even if you aren't an actor, those connections get you in the door for everything from producing to executive positions to directing to gopher!!  If you're a Fonda, of course you'll get in the door regardless of talent or lack thereof.  

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On 2/6/2022 at 1:33 PM, magicdog said:

Who does she think she's kidding???

Obviously, much of Hollywood is all about nepotism of one sort or another.  Even if you aren't an actor, those connections get you in the door for everything from producing to executive positions to directing to gopher!!  If you're a Fonda, of course you'll get in the door regardless of talent or lack thereof.  

True, but at least she acknowledges her privilege.  As opposed to the ones who claim that they got there because of meritocracy.

Does anyone truly believe the children and step children of Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn would have made it on their own AT ALL??  

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Personally, I think Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, and Wyatt Russell are all on the "good" side of nepotism. 

I do think Kate ran into problems once she hit her 30's and was no longer the cute young ingenue type. She was SO associated with the romcom era that the downturn took her down with it. Kate should have tried getting herself into Marvel (which kept fellow nepotism baby Gwyneth Paltrow afloat) instead of trying to get herself into the Ryan Murphy Multiverse. (It doesn't seem like he liked her- he only used her for Glee and that appears to have been it.) Kate does seem to be trying to monetize her life with her clothing store brand and it appears to be going well, so good for her?

Oliver Hudson, to me, did "dummy with a heart of gold" really well on his sitcom Rules of Engagement. He seems mostly in the t.v. realm and I think that's a good place for him. He also tried Ryan Murphy like his sister and it also seems like Ryan Murphy didn't like him much. LOL.

Wyatt Russell, I think, has been really smart with his career. He got in relatively late because he was mostly focused on hockey. He took small roles to start himself off, he had that big bushy beard and long hair for a long time to differentiate himself from most guys coming up in the 2010's, and hey...he got himself into the Marvel-verse as well as dipped his toes into the Netflix arena. Pretty good choices, I gotta say.

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I think Kate and Oliver have endless charisma.  I won't say the same about Wyatt.  I have no idea if they would have made it or not.  Kate has the exact same voice as her mother though and does resemble her so it's kind of a tough question to parse.

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28 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

Oliver Hudson, to me, did "dummy with a heart of gold" really well on his sitcom Rules of Engagement. He seems mostly in the t.v. realm and I think that's a good place for him. 

I’ll forever hold a grudge against Oliver Hudson for breaking up Pacey and Joey on Dawson’s Creek. But, he and Kate were on that Jimmy Fallon game show last week, and they were both delightful (and crushed the other team.)

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36 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I think Kate and Oliver have endless charisma.  I won't say the same about Wyatt.  I have no idea if they would have made it or not.  Kate has the exact same voice as her mother though and does resemble her so it's kind of a tough question to parse.

I agree, although I do think Wyatt seems to be realistic about what he's a good fit for. He's only done like one romantic comedy role which is probably smart. His general base type that seems to work for him is "relaxed affable stoner", although it looks like he's starting to branch out from that into more dramatic parts. 

The one nepotism baby I have no question about is Angelina Jolie. I mean, come on. That face. Seriously.

image.png.86fc7229a32c1f01f34543d4291c75e2.png

Now there's someone who came along at exactly the right time with exactly the right look/attitude. I think she might have tried to act a bit more mainstream/willing to play the bland Hot Love Interest more in a world where she was just another Hollywood hopeful, but I really have no question if Angelina could have made it. Again, that face. She didn't really look like Gia Carangi but damned if she didn't have that level of looks at that time.

 

Edited by methodwriter85
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Yeah, talk about an undeniable face.  I don't even know if she is INTERESTED in acting, but rather, it was DEMANDED of her with that look.  She had to churn out a few movies so she could do what she's really interested in.  

I haven't seen "Gia", but she absolutely blew my mind in "Girl Interrupted".  She was fucking terrifying!  I only saw it once, all those years ago.  She definitely has talent.  It didn't always come out - it had to be the right project.

I don't remember her doing much work like that afterwards, maybe I missed it.  It's hard to cast somebody who looks like that as a normal woman.  LOL.  She can't exactly be cast in every role.  

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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(edited)

True about Angelina Jolie. Stunningly gorgeous, but you can't market her as the Girl Next Door or the Average Everywoman like Reese Witherspoon or something.

So I'm like interested right now in Mason Gooding. Totally hot and charismatic.

Don't know how good of an actor he is yet, but man is he ticking off the boxes for current celebrity.

Apparently the people who made Scream

Spoiler

liked him so much that they decided to keep his character alive despite very much looking like he was a goner.

 

Edited by methodwriter85
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On 2/9/2022 at 1:08 AM, methodwriter85 said:

The one nepotism baby I have no question about is Angelina Jolie. I mean, come on. That face. Seriously.

image.png.86fc7229a32c1f01f34543d4291c75e2.png

Now there's someone who came along at exactly the right time with exactly the right look/attitude. I think she might have tried to act a bit more mainstream/willing to play the bland Hot Love Interest more in a world where she was just another Hollywood hopeful, but I really have no question if Angelina could have made it. Again, that face. She didn't really look like Gia Carangi but damned if she didn't have that level of looks at that time.

 

Absolutely. I first saw her in Hackers, and immediately knew, 'this woman is going to be a star.' There was just no doubt about it. She had a presence and charisma to her that was undeniable, and sex appeal that just punched through the screen.

I think it really helped her that no one ever looked at her and said, 'oh, is this America's new sweetheart?' because there's no way she ever conformed to that outdated idea of the sweet, insipid romcom star. I imagine few people ever approached her with scripts for movies like that.

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11 minutes ago, PepSinger said:

@Ms Blue Jay, you should watch Gia if you can. It’s excellent, and she’s phenomenal in it.

I would love to.

I even love Angelina's movie "Life or Something Like It".  I mocked it mercilessly when it first was released, but now it's a comfort movie for me.  LOL.

10 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Absolutely. I first saw her in Hackers, and immediately knew, 'this woman is going to be a star.' There was just no doubt about it. She had a presence and charisma to her that was undeniable, and sex appeal that just punched through the screen.

I think it really helped her that no one ever looked at her and said, 'oh, is this America's new sweetheart?' because there's no way she ever conformed to that outdated idea of the sweet, insipid romcom star. I imagine few people ever approached her with scripts for movies like that.

Exactly.  That's why I made fun of LOSLI.  She seems REALLY miscast.  Her acting doesn't "Fit" that role.  And yet?  I still love it.  I even like "The Tourist".  

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On 2/11/2022 at 7:58 PM, absnow54 said:

Watching Want You Back and am reminded that Scott Eastwood is one of the worst examples of nepotism ever. He’s just so wooden and bad. 

Cuba Gooding Jr.'s son plays the guy in the couple who share an apartment with Jenny Slate.

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On 2/12/2022 at 5:06 PM, Angeltoes said:

What does Kurt Russell's son Boston do?  Is he in the biz?

 

I'm not sure. According to IMDB, he was a production assistant in 1996 (at age 16) for Executive Decision but that appears to be the last movie or television job he's been known to do. However, he DID dance with his half-brother Wyatt Russell's mom Goldie Hawn to 'Hey Yah!' while they were doing dishes as per Miss Hawn's Instagram a few years back. 

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On 2/11/2022 at 8:58 PM, absnow54 said:

Watching Want You Back and am reminded that Scott Eastwood is one of the worst examples of nepotism ever. He’s just so wooden and bad. 

Such a beautiful guy who looks so much like his dad but my god. I tried getting through his Nicholas Sparks movie with Britt Robertson and it was hard. A reminder that even Hallmark movie stars need to have a level of acting talent and charisma to take off.

 

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Have we talked about this person in this thread, and if not, HOW HAVE WE NOT?

Meryl Streep's daughter Louisa Jacobson is the star of "The Gilded Age" on HBO and people haaaaaaaaaaaate her.  People hate Louisa's acting and they hate her character, Marian.  Now I like her, and I like her character.  I've never felt so out of step with the common opinion.  

Mamie Gummer, another of Meryl's daughters, was always amazing on "The Good Wife" so I've always liked her.  

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On 7/29/2021 at 12:02 PM, pancake bacon said:

Cut to six years later in 2021: Nat Wolff is doing all right, fairly interesting, and making the most of his The Fault in Our Stars equity, and will likely see character roles in his future. He's probably better with his music. But in a twist, it's actually the other Polly Draper son, Nat's brother Alex Wolff, who is making strides, and demonstrating major acting chops that will have him excel like he did in Hereditary, and in the current film, Pig. He's competing for the same roles of other actors his age like Timothee Chalamet, Lucas Hedges (son of a screenwriter/director), etc… and I personally believe Alex is the most talented out of them. 

I definitely think Alex is the better actor. They're doing an adaptation of John Green's novel "Turtles All the Way Down" and I was kinda hoping Alex shows up in it. It'd be a funny "full circle" moment thing for both Wolff brothers to have appeared in the John Green Movie verse. I don't know though- he's a got a really full dance card.

Edited by methodwriter85
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12 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I don't know though- he's a got a really full dance card.

He certainly does! What a timely update, as Alex Wolff has been cast in the very high-profile Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, currently in production. 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oppenheimer-alex-wolff-christopher-nolan-movie-1235116406/

He's really proven himself, landing roles that build his future casting potential. Do general audiences know that he's technically a nepotism actor? Are Michael Wolff (Arsenio Hall Show bandleader) and Polly Draper (thirtysomething actress) "names" enough that will get you up the casting director's list? 

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She got them their start in Nickelodeon's Naked Brothers Band. I think she was the creator/producer? Both of her sons  come off relatively low-key. As for her co-stars, we on the Brothers and Sisters forum used to jokingly call it the "Ken Olin Family Hour." Lol I'm surprised he showed more restraint on This Is Us.

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This caught my eye:

Quote

The MCU’s Captain America, Chris Evans, is teaming up once again with the Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson, in a new space race feature called Project Artemis.

Deadline broke the news today that Apple TV+ picked up the film with Evans and Johansson attached in a $100 million+ deal. Jason Bateman (Ozark) is also attached to direct, and the script comes from Rose Gilroy, the daughter of writer-director Dan Gilroy and actor René Russo.

Rose Gilroy doesn't have any writing credits listed on IMDB, so that must be one hell of a script to have attracted that kind of money and such big names.

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On 3/22/2022 at 2:13 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Have we talked about this person in this thread, and if not, HOW HAVE WE NOT?

Meryl Streep's daughter Louisa Jacobson is the star of "The Gilded Age" on HBO and people haaaaaaaaaaaate her.  People hate Louisa's acting and they hate her character, Marian.  Now I like her, and I like her character.  I've never felt so out of step with the common opinion.  

Mamie Gummer, another of Meryl's daughters, was always amazing on "The Good Wife" so I've always liked her.  

Nothing against Louisa Jacobson, she's competent as Marian.   But let's just say she's not incandescent in the role, I simply don't see what makes her this object of fascination.  Having said that, in all fairness, it's not as if that character is all that well written. 

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Meryl's daughters are fine but none of them have the luminous star quality of their mother. Meanwhile, I'm again thinking of Lily Rabe, who inherited her mother's innate likeability and I've liked every performance I've seen her do. She hasn't been typecast as a WASPy mom type like Jill Clayburgh was, though. She's had a quirkier career. Long star as opposed to big star, just like her mother was.

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(edited)

I never knew that Lily was Jill's daughter.  That explains a lot to me, why so many people seem to like her and bring her up so much and I'm always like ?????

I think that Mamie is kind of amazing, but no one is going to be Meryl Streep.  Mamie was kind of evil and very cunning on TGW and we rarely see Meryl being like that.  I think she was smart to carve out an entirely different type of character.  (Of course, I love when Meryl does ANYTHING so of course I love her in Death Becomes Her, The Devil Wears Prada, and She-Devil.). 

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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18 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I never knew that Lily was Jill's daughter.  That explains a lot to me, why so many people seem to like her and bring her up so much and I'm always like ?????

They don't really look that much alike but you can hear it in her voice and her facial mannerisms. 

Anyway. Jeff Wahlberg, aka nephew of Donnie and Mark. When Dora the Explorer came out, I thought about how he stuck out as a pretty bad actor even for a kid's movie and yep, the Wahlberg name. LOL I'm surprised there aren't more Wahlberg offspring trying to get into the game. lol

Edited by methodwriter85
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Watching "The French Lieutenant's Wife" you have Meryl Streep and it reminded me that she has her 3 acting daughters, including Louis Jacobson getting a big splash TV debut in "The Gilded Age" but also Jeremy Iron whose  son Max is also in the profession.

Have to say, like Streep, his son doesn't have that extra star quality that Jeremy Irons has, but he's actually carved out a nice career, and I do think he does very well with his Spy series "Condor"  based on the novel and the 1975 Robert Redford flick "Three days of the Condor".

 

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On 4/8/2022 at 3:55 PM, caracas1914 said:

Watching "The French Lieutenant's Wife" you have Meryl Streep and it reminded me that she has her 3 acting daughters, including Louis Jacobson getting a big splash TV debut in "The Gilded Age" but also Jeremy Iron whose  son Max is also in the profession.

Have to say, like Streep, his son doesn't have that extra star quality that Jeremy Irons has, but he's actually carved out a nice career, and I do think he does very well with his Spy series "Condor"  based on the novel and the 1975 Robert Redford flick "Three days of the Condor".

 

One big mistake Max Irons had was being a lead in that absolutely awful movie The Host. Saoirse Ronan was lucky she was eventually able to bounce back when she did Brooklyn.

Max has done fine, though.

Actress who I do think matches (or exceeds) her parent's star charisma? Zoey Deutch, a hundred percent. She's so immensely likeable and charming. I think she's quirkier than Lea was, but not so quirky she can't do well in mainstream stuff.

Edited by methodwriter85
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Patrick Schwarzenegger seems kind of aware himself and his limits, and darn it, I think I like the guy.

He reminds me of Rumer Willis in the sense that I don't think they're particularly "star quality" but they do seem to grind their way through and learn what they can and seem grateful for the careers they did manage to carve out. 

Patrick has this oddball duck vibe to him that I enjoy. 

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On 3/22/2022 at 4:13 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Have we talked about this person in this thread, and if not, HOW HAVE WE NOT?

Meryl Streep's daughter Louisa Jacobson is the star of "The Gilded Age" on HBO and people haaaaaaaaaaaate her.  People hate Louisa's acting and they hate her character, Marian.  Now I like her, and I like her character.  I've never felt so out of step with the common opinion.  

Mamie Gummer, another of Meryl's daughters, was always amazing on "The Good Wife" so I've always liked her.  

I don’t hate Louisa. She’s not her Mom, but I think she did well with the character. The character Marion was supposed to be kind and bland! Sweet but naive. 

Sometimes I don’t know what people are expecting. 

On 4/8/2022 at 2:55 PM, caracas1914 said:

Watching "The French Lieutenant's Wife" you have Meryl Streep and it reminded me that she has her 3 acting daughters, including Louis Jacobson getting a big splash TV debut in "The Gilded Age" but also Jeremy Iron whose  son Max is also in the profession.

Have to say, like Streep, his son doesn't have that extra star quality that Jeremy Irons has, but he's actually carved out a nice career, and I do think he does very well with his Spy series "Condor"  based on the novel and the 1975 Robert Redford flick "Three days of the Condor".

Max Irons is so hot though. He’s got his Dad’s strong jaw and his Mom’s pretty. He can also do sexy well. Did you see him in The White Queen (Starz, 2013) as Edward IV?

When he said “I will not die in battle, but in the bed of the most beautiful Queen England has ever known.” I legit FAINTED. Fainted. 

He’s got a VC Andrews lifetime movie this summer- come join us in the specials thread to swoon if you’d like. 

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On 5/14/2022 at 3:00 AM, methodwriter85 said:

Patrick Schwarzenegger seems kind of aware himself and his limits, and darn it, I think I like the guy.

He reminds me of Rumer Willis in the sense that I don't think they're particularly "star quality" but they do seem to grind their way through and learn what they can and seem grateful for the careers they did manage to carve out. 

Patrick has this oddball duck vibe to him that I enjoy. 

He is starring on The Staircase as one of Toni Collette and Colin Firth's kids.  I don't think he's very good here.  The other son is played by Dane DeHaan and obviously Dane stands out.  It took me a while to see Patrick's name in the credits.  And I have to admit my first thought was oh, no wonder he was hired for this.

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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4 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

He is starring on The Staircase as one of Toni Collette and Colin Firth's kids.  I don't think he's very good here.  The other son is played by Dane DeHaan and obviously Dane stands out.  It took me a while to see Patrick's name in the credits.  And I have to admit my first thought was oh, no wonder he was hired for this.

If you watch footage of the son he's portraying, all will make sense. Dude is a total whackjob.

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(edited)

Sometimes it’s best not to know the link to the parents.   Amazon’s superhero series “The Boys” Hughie  is Jack Quaid, yes I just discovered is  the son of Dennis and Meg Ryan.   It’s a fully fleshed out character, well written role and Jack does well.  However now I see his parents every time I watch an episode, LOL.  He does and he doesn’t look like them, hard to explain.

Edited by caracas1914
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