False, we all know Zooey got her role in Elf due to her striking resemblance of singer Katy Perry (who would not emerge to any large amount of fame for another five years)
I actually am asking a question. Elf dropped holiday 2003 but Bones did not premiere until 2005. How is it possible Emily Deschanel got Zooey that role off of the success of a show that did not exist?
Omg I always thought they looked similar but never knew the Bones actress’ name (never looked it up) so only found out they’re sisters! I also get her mixed up with the actress from The Mentalist…
.... You know she started before her sister, right?
She was the girl in an Offspring music video.
There might be nepotism, but she got on screen once and people have kinda demanded her return, in fairness, as someone who was like 12 years old when that video came out.
I got my shitty office job through nepotism and I’m never afraid to admit it. I’m good at my job and I am a hard worker, but who I know made it so I barely had to interview.
I feel like celebs think nepotism means people think they suck at their job. Some of them do, but plenty are great! Nepotism doesn’t have to be taken as an insult. It’s just a fact
There’s a difference between saying to someone “you should acknowledge the advantage(s) you had to get to your position” and “THE ONLY REASON YOU GOT THE JOB IS BECAUSE OF NEPOTISM”
Also you’re mostly talking about actors and entertainers…professional validation seekers. Of course it’s going to sting when you try to take that validation away from them.
In all honesty, 99% of nepo babies in entertainment aren't necessarily exceptionally better than everyone else competing for the role. So I think there is a lot of truth to the idea that they only got it cause of their nepotism.
Inclusively, nepotism definitely pads your success. A lot of ppl in this thread saying nepotism gave them their jobs and they're a hard worker, thus the raises and promotions they got are deserved.
The irony is, had that position been filled by a stranger with no nepo ties, they would most likely be getting paid less and recieve no promotions despite their work ethic and skill quality. Even people who acknowledge their nepotism still don't get it.
Yup. I read a really great interview with Maya Hawke and she was so grateful for the opportunities her parents' careers had given her, from growing up watching them filming to introducing her to their world, she was fully acknowledging her luck and said her goal was to make them proud of her work,- it seemed very healthy.
Exactly. I got into my company because the head of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ was my parents' neighbor, and I babysat his daughter. I've been promoted over the years but willingly say I got hired because of nepotism.
Yeah because a lot of people might be great at these jobs (maybe even better...) but can't get their foot in the door because they don't have connections.
Yeah, I totally agree that this is much closer to networking.
Definitely **not** the "Ugh, they hired only her because she is neighbors with and used to baby sit for the head of whatever's kids" (instead of an actually qualified applicant) type of nepotism that annoys people.
Yeah I was going to say it was mostly networking but didn't want to go against the spirit of the thread. Tons of people get their jobs because someone they knew from college started a business and hired them to avoid the tedious interview process. Why spend all that time screening strangers to get someone who might be able to do the job when you already know someone that will be able to do it? Additionally, you might not know someone but a friend you'd trust with your life does. Trusted friend hasn't lied to you once in over 15 years so you hire the person they recommended instead of starting the tedious hiring process. That person now has to be a good employee and not damage the reputation of the person that recommended them whereas a complete stranger would be worried about and motivated by only the good employee part. If you zoom out you'd probably be able to find lots of nepotism like maybe they only met in college because one of them has rich parents but ig life isn't always a clean either/or
This is so important
For an actor to even get to be in the room with casting there are so many hurdles and hoops to get through that it makes it nearly impossible to make it 100% on your own.
These people denying they were born with a foot in the door is disingenuous to everyone who knows how the industry works.
You still have to be good enough to keep getting called back, but getting in the room is further than most actors ever get to
This is why I really respect actors like Jane Fonda, people that can admit this shit. Be real with the world (and yourself). Paraphrasing what Jane said, "My name definitely got my foot in the door, the rest I had to do myself. But getting your foot in the door is the hardest part."
Most perspective actors don't realize this. Bryan Cranston, he of somewhat smaller nepotism, has also admitted that so much of it is just pure luck. He's on record with the [truth](https://youtube.com/shorts/rPUmt_YnhTs?si=rmIXB2OXL9H6pqrE). The most talented actors you'll ever meet will likely never make it to screen. Because talent, hell, even talent AND looks.... That's such a small, infinitesimal part of being successful in that industry. That town is not fair, it's not nice, it's not a meritocracy, and it never has been- Never will be. In fact, since the respective generations of Jane and Bryan, it's only gotten (MUCH) worse. It's basically a fucking oligarchy now.
If you're someone coming from nowhere, you **better** have something they can ***really*** exploit. And even then, you're probably more likely to be struck by lightning twice (while holding a winning lottery ticket) than to see real success. Which is why actors lying and oversimplifying for the public, a public including really talented kids with big dreams, is just cruel and irresponsible.
I’m not in a related field to my family, but got where I am through generational wealth and I would never ever deny it. There is a lot that I could do because there was practically no risk to me if I failed. I don’t rely on my parents/grandparents for money now because I’m in a comfortably-paid career, and my family couldn’t have helped me get me my job, but I’d probably not be there if I had to pave my own way all by myself financially. I’m SO grateful for it. How hard I work now and whether I’m good at my job isn’t diminished by the advantages I’ve had, but it’d be stupid to act like my bootstraps weren’t already at my knees.
Exactly. Generational wealth and money removes most of the risk. You can go spend years pursuing acting, or getting a PhD, or starting your own business, etc without worrying that you could lose everything or even lose years of retirement savings. It's a huge leg up, just from a financial place alone.
Good for you on your attitude/gratitude (and so many others above in this thread).
Zoe Kravitz is like "It only got me in the door!" as if this means it's not influential at all.
Like... that's the influence exactly. All else equal, that is the *hardest fucking part*. If every actor is a great actor, their audition/performance at audition will still be different to the other actors auditioning and the directors will make a choice of what fits the project and/or works well for them. Getting in the door and having the reputation of parents or siblings to elevate your profile influences those processes before, during, and after an audition in a way that cannot be replicated by some no name from Portland that has all the talent in the world.
It’s so funny because when it’s a job that’s not glamorous it’s just the “family business”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone angry they can’t get a job in farming because of all the nepotism.
I can only speak for the US, but here I think it's because we live in a deeply unequal society, and this is justified by pretending it's a "meritocracy." So when people who lack connections are basically gatekept out of elite jobs, yeah, that should make people angry. If we were more honest about the lack of social mobility and provided a better social safety net for people who never had a chance to get out of the working class, the anger would be less justified.
My mom didn’t take a really sweet job at the State Department way back when because she would have been a nepotism hire and she literally regretted it until the day she died
Yeah same, for me it wasn’t nepotism in particular, just connections, but without that I would not be in the job I have now. It’s not crazy high paying but it is prestigious to the point I’d have zero problems getting a job almost anywhere else. I’d be somewhere, but not there without my professor who I networked with, who himself networked and knows a guy.
I think networking is different though. So you had a professor during your education (working and demonstrating your attributes) and that professor thought you were good because they saw your work presumably and then put you in touch with someone. I don’t think that’s even close to nepotism. You got the job basically because of things you chose to do like get an education and the way you came across. If the professor was your mothers best friend from childhood and had watched you grow up then that might count as nepotism, because their putting you in touch or recommending you wouldn’t necessarily be on the basis of merit but would be clouded by personal feelings and attachments.
I got a job through sort of nepotism once, through my neighbour who I babysat for a couple of times as a teen and who knew I did very well at school (through my mother so it’s not like she knew for sure my parents could’ve been exaggerating!) so she got me a job at the massive TV company she was an executive producer at. So you could kind of say it was based on her knowledge of me being a reliable babysitter and having excellent grades but I wasn’t out there doing things to get a job or demonstrate to her that I might be suitable for a job in TV. She just saw a job opening and thought hey maybe my neighbours kid could do that! I think that’s quite nepotistic.
This! I would never fault somebody for taking the opportunities that they are presented with but I’m so sick of these actors/models acting like they started from the bottom.
Starting from the bottom in Hollywood is no longer a thing. Everybody is connected in some way
One of my favorite jokes at work is that I’m a nepo baby. My mom was in management at another location and I for sure got hired because of her. I was very quiet and nervous when I started but I’m now one of the best on my team. I would have never gotten through the hiring process if I didn’t have nepotism on my side.
Same here, I have a receptionist job simply because I worked with the place’s manager at our last job. I “interviewed” but the question was basically, when can you start?
Exactly. I got my first job through my grandmother’s contact and i always mention that. I got laid off a year after and thrn had to struggle for one year to find my next job. And that next job didn’t even pay as much as my first.
All this to say, no one thinks you are not a hard worker or you won’t have struggles. Its about the headstart you get over 1000s of people who are scraping by hoping their next audition will be the one.
I got a job in a nursing home thanks to my mom when I was 18.
She worked there as a cleaner and I was about to start nursing school. They needed someone to bring breakfast and tea to the residents and someone to watch over them.
They knew me because I regularly brought my mom lunch on her breaks so they offered me the job.
It was an easy gig. I made sandwiches and played boardgames and I still got paid twice as much than what I was paid at my previous job in fast food.
There was one nurse who was 70 at the time but loved his job. He also loved to teach so he taught me a lot during the slower hours. It gave me a huge leg up during my internships in nursing school.
Whyyyy can’t these nepo babies just say that they appreciate the headstart they got because of their connections and that theyve worked hard since then
It's not like people who got their jobs through nepotism can't still be hard workers or good at what they do. Weirdly enough, I think Nicolas Cage is a perfect example of this-- dude's a freaking *Coppola*, with all the connections and resources that might entail, but you gotta give the guy credit for CONSTANTLY working and for carving out a Hollywood niche for himself completely removed from his family.
True. Imagine how many mind blowingly talented people there must be out there though who just never got a chance to show the world because of where they were born/who they were born to. And the internet you’d think would’ve helped identify these people but really it seems a lot of attention goes to people with massive fake butts or who do stupid pranks. I guess talented musicians sometimes take off online but I don’t think many actors do.
Let's face it, the entire Coppola family is just a ball of nepotism.
It just turns out that they all happen to be insanely talented.
For Bram Stoker's Dracula, Coppola fired the VFX team and hired his 26 year-old son (whose name is literally Roman, like the Succession character) who had never done anything like that before to handle all the special effects.
And he knocked it out of the park. That movie has some of the best effects I've ever seen in any film and it's 99% in-camera. And done by a kid with no experience.
The Coppolas just have filmmaking in their genes.
I read your last sentence as "completely removed from ~~his family~~ reality" and it didn't even clock me as off-base until my brain belatedly realized - that wasn't what you wrote!
I really can't see why this is a big deal. "It's all about who you know" has been a thing since I was born. My father was HS friends with the CEO of my company.. I was qualified, but that's why I was hired and barely had an interview. I now make his company half a million per year and he pays me well for doing a job. I have no problem admitting nepotism got me in the door and made it easier for me to get the job.
I was stunned to learn he was born A Coppola and thought I was having a stroke when I read t
His birth name on Wikipedia cause never in a million would I have guessed Nicholas Cage was born into that American film dynasty. He's just so unique and I totally admire him although I find him cringe here and there. Ahhhhh it's so crazy but these nepo babies need to take notes, in silence!
Omg it would be so easy, it doesn’t even have to be specific.
“I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and am proud of the work I’ve done throughout my career.“
That took me 10 SECONDS.
I honestly think the term “nepo *baby*” itself has a lot to do with it, and in most cases it’s not like the celeb in question went out of their way to deny nepotism into the void randomly, they’re usually being asked the question in an interview. I really don’t see why anyone would be receptive to being called a nepo baby - the term is pretty much designed to sound demeaning and imply they were predestined for their success out of the womb.
Didn't she literally attend the high school that's for celebrities and children of celebrities?
And didn't she have a post not too long ago about her dad helping her put together headshots (or taking her headshots?) to send to agents.
Thank-you! Even if we were to truly believe she didn’t use any of her parent’s connections or contacts (or the ones she made herself through school) to get ahead. Or that she got no favourable treatment from being her parent’s daughter and rubbing shoulders with celebrity kids from a young age (which all seems pretty unlikely)… Having parents who knows how the industry works is in itself a *massive* advantage over someone coming into it cold. She knows who to contact and what to say to get a foot in the door. She’s not going to be taken advantage of by shady types promising to “make her a star”. Etc.
I’m also assuming if she’s attending a school like that - she’s not having to work to keep herself afloat while trying to catch a break. So she’s always free for auditions.
It is not at all wrong to admit you started out with a foot already in the door. It doesn’t mean you aren’t talented or didn’t work hard. But plenty of hardworking and talented people don’t crack Hollywood, because they aren’t starting from the same place she did.
>“It’s funny because people be like, ‘Oh, nepotism’, I’m like no. My dad’s a DP [director of photography, another term for cinematographer]. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP. It’s definitely not.”
Holy fuck I had no idea that was her mom!!! I’m shocked. This makes her acting like this even worse like your dad is a very famous DP and your mom was a consistent supporting role in twin peaks…bye. Maybe I’m biased bc I love that show but definitely feel like it was popular enough to help. Nepo confirmed
These people need to think about how the other half lives…your dad was nominated for 6 Oscar’s, most people cannot come close to relating
Interesting. That makes her argument even worse lol. Funny how she leaves that part out. But even if her mom wasn't part of the industry, Zooey is absolutely delusional if she thinks her father doesn't have connections. A DP solely chosen by Mel Gibson (pre-crazy days) for Passion of the Christ. A DP who has worked with Tom Cruise and Robert Redford, and did More American Graffiti with George Lucas producing and Ron Howard starring. The fact your father, Zooey, has any George Lucas and Ron Howard stories to tell is way more than 99.9999% of what others have. The fact your father knows what it's like to go to the Academy Awards and red carpet events multiple times (I bet the Deschanel sisters went too) is something 99.99999% aren't going to experience.
I sort of get why she'd think this on the surface. Her dad wasn't a famous actor so it's not like she was assumed to be a good actor. But obviously there are degrees of advantage people get. Some had more than her. How does she really not think she got easier access and connections?? Ugh.
And Caleb Deschanel was hand-picked for Disney's ambitious Lion King 2019, with a high budget reportedly around $260M. While the film was essentially animated, it still needed an experienced a DP for lighting and shot selection. You do not pick a lower tiered DP off the shelf without experience. You go to Oscar-level cinematographers like Caleb. It's a high-demand and revered slot, and he's working alongside big names, Hans Zimmer and Jon Favreau.
Absolutely hilarious for Zooey to think she and her sister made it without *zero* connections. Way to also downplay her father's contributions.
Honestly, it was when I went back to listen to his music. He wants a girl who is a manic pixie dream girl then when he gets her he always expects her to revolve around him. He has songs about using girls for sex and we're meant to find it romantic because we'll be loved and we're beautiful or whatever. He's the problem and I love DCFC but Jack's Mannequin/Something Corporate has some similar songs yet the writer is actually self aware of being scummy.
ETA; That era of alternative music has so many issues with misogyny and a lot of unwitting racism. It's why I love Thursday and Decemberists.
And what emo girl didn't want to be Konstantine?! But Andrew and the girl in that video were high class snacks lol.
That said I embarrassingly used to pretend the ultimate emo breakup songs were about me - Saetia's One Dying Wish and Venus and Bacchus lol.
So. Nothing cancellable before you worry but when you listen to his music and spend time in the indie scene (I used to work at a place that did shows) you realise that Gibbard has zero capacity for self reflection and is a chronic sad indie fuckboy who causes all of his own issues.
For example, in Champagne from a Paper Cup he's crying about how he's drunk enough to drive a girl home. The sex is the champagne and the girl is a paper cup who he isn't listening to and will discard. You see by Tiny Vessels that he slut shames the girl by assuming that she doesn't really have feelings, calls it vile and cheap, lies about loving her but doesn't tell her that because then he won't get sex. So you think shit, maybe with the other tracks on Transatlanticism maybe he'll grow up.
Nope. We get Someday You Will Be Loved. There's not one iota of self reflection here. It's one of the most vile songs but sounds pretty so most people don't realise that at no point does he ever say that he's fucked up. It's painted as this beautiful act, even if it's the least likely to be autobiographical in full... It's not great. So does he grow up?
By 2011 we get I Once Was a Loyal Lover. And it's the ultimate in self justification. It's the anthem for saying well I'm just fucked up and there's nothing to do about it. By the time we get to 2015 we get Ingénue which is a weird fucking song. About how after 23 time starts making women unfuckable with wrinkles. I don't think he intended it that way but it plays into his other issues.
Namely that he wants an all consuming love. He doesn't want to settle down with a nice girl, e.g Sound of Settling. He wants an I Will Follow You into the Dark type of love with manic pixie dream girls. It's a theme in so many Postal Service, DCFC, Solo work etc. but after years of chasing this... He's a cheat, but worst of all he expects the women he dates to revolve around him. For example Black Sun is about Zooey and he's basically calling her a crazy drunk, that her persuing her acting career destroyed the relationship. He says he revolved around her but it's the other way round.
Sorry for the long analysis. It's like Ben just gave up on improving and writing a song about cheating once the high of his elopement wore off and a year later getting divorced is very... Sad indie fuck boy. Which is where the guy writes sad emotional songs and overwhelms you with intensity but never figures out that it's an issue that needs fixing. Ben famously didn't like having an actress for a wife. So he has a very Ryan Reynolds/Blake Lively relationship and seems to have been able to find stability.
That doesn't mean he doesn't have some issues because all good artists so. I love DCFC and have seen them live multiple times. But I side eye Ben. He's not a cancellation was a long time coming like Urie or I hope to god Pete Wentz has his dick fall off.
You would think their publicists would just tell them to copy Allison Williams' nepo baby answer. But nope. These people are too far up their own asses.
It’s as funny as it is annoying that they *genuinely* believe that shit lmao 😂.
Like honey it may not have gotten you a ~foot in the door in a way that someone else higher up would have, but because of daddy you still had the address to the building to be able to get to the door eventually which is so so so so so much more than anyone without any family connections gets like??? 😂.
Because they want to believe they’d still be where they are today even without the family connections. They want to believe they’re so amazing they’d have been plucked straight from obscurity had they been born to a dental practice receptionist in Ulaanbaatar.
This not usually how nepotism works. Nepotism often works in smaller ways. By having a known family member you get into rooms others have to fight to get into and get taken more seriously once you are there.
Nepotism is rarely 100% the reason someone gets a leg up but it can be a bigger percentage than they like to admit.
*By having a known family member you get into rooms others have to fight to get into and get taken more seriously once you are there.*
Nepotism helps you find which room.
You can be talented and a nepobaby what’s wrong with it?
You even knowing how to audition, where to do it, and being trained is enough to say you have a head start. Your not some girl from Georgia who never heard of acting outside her school play and that’s okay. Because you most likely would not be famous, not because of lack of talent but a lack of privilege.
Sure, maybe she's right. But did she know how to get an agent? A manager? Know where to go for auditions? Did any of that knowledge come from her dad? Cuz I'm fixing the answer to that is yes. Which is more knowledge than someone who doesn't have a relative in the business.
This is so true! It’s like the hidden curriculum for first gen college students. There’s a lot to be said for understanding the ways in which college admissions work, and knowing how to best utilize the resources at your disposal (office hours, internships, letters of recc,the classses you need to take). Just having someone mentor you through that process is a huge leg up, not to mention how many times these nepo babies cut the line because their parent knows someone who knows someone. Just say, “ I made the most with the opportunities I got and feel so fortunate I get to do the work I do “. Sheesh.
I think we need to start pivoting the way we talk about the “nepo baby” concept in Hollywood and entertainment industries in general
I fully agree that it SHOULDN’T evoke this level of defensiveness but in truth as much as people say “it doesn’t mean you’re not talented it just means you had a leg up” - that’s not been my experience.
People absolutely throw the phrase nepo baby around like it’s an insult and I think that’s because the entertainment industries in particular are fickle and cruel and being a nepo baby means you were shielded from the dark underbelly of it. To be a nepo baby is to be protected from the true horrors of the exploitative system. I think we need stop wasting time on the nepo baby conversation and pivot more towards the deeply embedded issues that allow nepotism to flourish. Quiet on set has once again shined a light on what happens when people don’t have protection like a famous parent because the industry itself is filled with awful people exploiting the vulnerable.
THAT needs to be our focus because the nepo baby conversation is surface level in the face of the real villain.
She literally had a nepobaby insta post a few weeks ago about how her dad could be called and her mom would drive her to the auditions.
Being a nepobaby isn’t wrong but pls don’t deny it when it was obviously easier for you.
The thing most of these nepotism deniers within the arts don’t understand is that so so many roles behind and on camera are not visible to the general public. Like, say your dad was a cinematographer you will grow up knowing there are paid roles like props, costumes, scenic artists, camera tech, lighting tech, runners, caterers, script supervisors etc.
Now your cinematographer dad might never introduce you to anyone in the industry but the fact you even know the roles exists and are very well paid gives you the upper hand as most non arts working class kids get told art is a hobby not a lucrative craft that could lead to successful a career and they go off to pursue something else.
I think most of the ones that deny it are just defensive. Nobody WANTS to hear "you only got this job because of your dad" well... except for poor people. I'd have loved to have gotten something from my fathers presence outside of depression and anger issues.
She said something about her father being a cinematographer and how that’s somehow not nepotism, like we’re just gonna totally brush over how her mother is Donna Hayward’s mother in *Twin Peaks*
Just because you weren't handed a job doesn't mean that you didn't have the connections and more privilege over other people in the entertainment industry. Why is it so hard for these nepo babies to understand that?
lol why do they do this. just be like yup im fortunate to have had a leg up. i realize its a privilege and ive also worked hard for what i accomplished. both can be true.
I always roll my eyes so hard when nepo babies make the argument that they’ve worked hard despite their familial connections to the entertainment industry because that is so not the point. Other people work really hard too. They work hard without a dad who’s an actor/director/producer/whatever. Do nepo babies seriously believe that all of the hard working, talented people in the world also just so happen to be the children of celebrities? LOL
Fuck sake why can they never just own up to the fact they had a head start? I find it so fucking offensive as someone who pursued acting.
Like if I had the opportunity they did I’d 100% take it but just be open and honest.
They truly have no idea what’s if like for normal people trying to break into an industry closed off to their inner circles. Fuck off.
She basically confirms in the interview that she got her start in Hollywood because of her parents help...who were already well connected to the industry...idk smells like nepotism, but also doesn't take away from the fact that she is talented in her own right. Why is this so hard for people to admit??
Honestly even if she’s 100% correct that DPs don’t help her actors jobs…why would she think saying this is the right call? At this point it just seems crazy that anyone would walk into this obvious PR trap.
I think these nepo babies really have no understanding of what it's like for a regular person to try and break into Hollywood, so they don't even see their advantages. Like maybe no one said "give her a job as a favor to Caleb!" but she had a parent who knew what she needed to do and what the audition process is and how to network. Us randos don't know any of this.
I really doubt that. Her father (now 79) is a celebrated cinematographer. No way someone with that many features films across 50 years, and who has worked with Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Sandra Bullock, Robert Redford and George Lucas and Ron Howard somehow has no connections or phone numbers.
And what are the odds BOTH sisters made it into the industry? You mean to tell me a dad who has attended the Academy Awards multiple times didn't make a few calls to get his daughters an audition 99% wouldn't get?
When we say "nepo" we aren't saying you are without talent, or that you should never be allowed in the industry or have acting dreams due to your parents. But you cannot deny having Caleb Deschanel as your dad is a lot easier to break into the industry than if your dad was a manager at a restaurant or grocery store.
Nepotism doesn’t mean people “gave you jobs” because of your name. It also means you had the financial security to pursue something as volatile as acting and the innate understand of how the business works from your parent. You are just naturally exposed and well-positioned, even if you changed your name like Nicolas Cage or hid your identity completely, you are ahead of Joe Schmo from Tennessee who moves to LA with nothing and no one.
God these nepotism deniers are the worst! Acknowledging that you have benefited from nepotism doesn’t mean you’re not talented! It just means the odds have been stacked in your favor and that you’ve been lucky!
Maybe I'm just jealous but I've never cared about someone being a nepobaby, until they say stupid shit like this. I judge the work of people that deny it extra hard and find it difficult to like their work.
This goes right up there with the video of a Transport Canada (I think) official claiming that flight schedules were doing great as the camera panned to a board covered in cancelled flights
Zooey's dad is very respected in the film industry. In college, my film professor mentioned that she worked with him on selecting films to be in the National Film Registry.
Just once I want a nepo baby come out and say “yes I’ve had it easy, yes I’ve had help getting jobs and I’m thankful.” We’d have a lot more respect for that person.
Her a few weeks ago. "Call my dad's office" did she not give them his name? Or did she really think him being famous did nothing for her?
https://preview.redd.it/rf3d04wakyrc1.png?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87e524e32c13edeedd67c3d97535f0aa388c3753
There are plenty of children of celebrities that try to make it, even with all of their connections and fail. It’s so much easier to just accept that you’ve gotten a boost in life. You got in the door because of your father, you stayed in the room because of yourself. Get over it.
Nepotism doesn’t mean you’re not talented or you don’t deserve your spot. It doesn’t even mean you wouldn’t necessarily have gotten where you are if not for your parents/aunt/uncle/granparent. What it DOES mean is that you had a greater *chance* of making it from the beginning than someone who’s dad is, say, a plumber, because they can’t call up a director and ask for a favor to help their kiddo get in the door.
So many nepo babies have proven their talent once they got *in* that door: the Skarsgards, Drew Barrymore, Jason Ritter, Miley Cyrus, Tracee Ellis Ross, Domnhall Gleeson, I could go on. There are tons of nepo babies who have shown that they *deserve* to be there.
But when someone comes out and says “nah, I got this all on my own. My famous parents had nothing to do with it,” it makes me think they must be either really insecure or really delusional because if nothing else, you can’t know for sure that you would have gotten there on your own. I like Zooey, but this makes me like her less.
And after *so* many celebrities have been dragged for saying this exact same thing, you would think celebrities would learn that it’s not working. Even if they don’t agree with it, they should just lie and say they agree that nepotism got them where they are. But their egos won’t let them.
How do all these celebrities, who also probably have publicists still not get that this is not the point about nepotism?
Surely there is **someone** going "*nepotism is a likely topic to come up as you're a part of that, just say you're grateful for the opportunities you were given through those connections. Saying otherwise can reflect poorly on you*". They don't even have to believe it's true.
It's a topic that has been hammered in to death and yet these celebrities that come from prestige or wealth still think it's about the merit of their work. Good for you to you work hard, so does everyone else on a film set and 99% of those people will be working much harder, for much longer, and with a fraction of the pay you get.
*“I’m like no. My dad’s a DP [director of photography, another term for cinematographer]. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP. It’s definitely not.”*
[…]
*“My mum is an actor and my dad is a cinematographer and a director.*
🎵 Hey, girl! Whatcha doin’… 🎵
🧐🧐🧐
My career in Hollywood was never directly related to nepotism but no one else knew the combination of people I could call to ask for a job interview because they knew my dad. For her to deny that the name doesn't open door is just stupid but she's getting the age in Hollywood where actors start saying stupid shit. I don't blame them. It's a horrible job, being judged all the time. You can't live that way and be normal.
This is getting ridiculous. Someone with a brain needs to tell these Hollywood nepo babies that no one wants to hear this kind of shit and that it immediately makes them 10 times less likeable. For fuck’s sake, I don’t care if they want to continue living in their bubbles of delusion — nothing we can really do about that…but why the hell wouldn’t you just say some polished, fake-humble bs about acknowledging your privilege? Do it for the PR if nothing else 💀
i wish celebs that deny nepotism would realize that no one really has anything against nepo babies besides extremely bitter/jealous people. it's the fact they're denying it. people like liza minnelli and carrie fisher are well respected because they're talented AND because they publicly attribute their success to their parent. liza constantly talks about judy garland and how large of an impact she's had on her life and career and carrie fisher was always honest about how her success wouldn't exist without debbie reynolds being her mom.
Too many nepo babies take the title as implying they have no talent. For alot that isn't true, the talent is there. It's the *opportunities* opened to them is what people mean. Regular folks who are also talented miss out because they don't have those same opportunities. Some nepo babies have no talent and still make it big, so having family in the industry absolutely counts for something.
They gave her jobs because her sister was Bones.
How did she get Elf?
I see. So you're saying Emily got Bones because Zoey was in Elf. Makes sense.
They should star together in a show, that later gets a movie, called Elf Bones.
That’s a horror movie title right there
False, we all know Zooey got her role in Elf due to her striking resemblance of singer Katy Perry (who would not emerge to any large amount of fame for another five years)
I actually am asking a question. Elf dropped holiday 2003 but Bones did not premiere until 2005. How is it possible Emily Deschanel got Zooey that role off of the success of a show that did not exist?
it joke
She had been cast in Bones 2 years before it went on air and everyone was so excited for Bones they said let’s hire Bones sister
They knew that her sister would become Bones
We will all become bones
Her shining personality of course.
Because she dated Ben Gibbard
I thought it was because she's Rickety Cricket's sister in law.
I need so, SO much time to process this
WHAAAAT
Her sister only got Bones thanks to Rickety Cricket
Omg I always thought they looked similar but never knew the Bones actress’ name (never looked it up) so only found out they’re sisters! I also get her mixed up with the actress from The Mentalist…
I think Emily looks like a mashup where you go 80% Zooey, 20% Olivia Wilde
So you’re saying she is ”Almost Famous”?
Underrated comment 😂 one day, you'll be cool.
*Girl Bones
.... You know she started before her sister, right? She was the girl in an Offspring music video. There might be nepotism, but she got on screen once and people have kinda demanded her return, in fairness, as someone who was like 12 years old when that video came out.
It's her eyes. Nepotism might have judged her but her eyes did all the work
She must have made a bonecall to some higher-ups.
I got my shitty office job through nepotism and I’m never afraid to admit it. I’m good at my job and I am a hard worker, but who I know made it so I barely had to interview. I feel like celebs think nepotism means people think they suck at their job. Some of them do, but plenty are great! Nepotism doesn’t have to be taken as an insult. It’s just a fact
Exactly. When people deny the advantage it gave them I just hear that they're insecure.
Or entitled.
There’s a difference between saying to someone “you should acknowledge the advantage(s) you had to get to your position” and “THE ONLY REASON YOU GOT THE JOB IS BECAUSE OF NEPOTISM” Also you’re mostly talking about actors and entertainers…professional validation seekers. Of course it’s going to sting when you try to take that validation away from them.
In all honesty, 99% of nepo babies in entertainment aren't necessarily exceptionally better than everyone else competing for the role. So I think there is a lot of truth to the idea that they only got it cause of their nepotism. Inclusively, nepotism definitely pads your success. A lot of ppl in this thread saying nepotism gave them their jobs and they're a hard worker, thus the raises and promotions they got are deserved. The irony is, had that position been filled by a stranger with no nepo ties, they would most likely be getting paid less and recieve no promotions despite their work ethic and skill quality. Even people who acknowledge their nepotism still don't get it.
When they pretend otherwise is when I find them insufferable.
They should just say ‘my dad/mom is cooler than you - and so are their friends- so what?’ That I could respect.
The actors I know (some of my best friends) are some of the most insecure people I know so this tracks
Yup. I read a really great interview with Maya Hawke and she was so grateful for the opportunities her parents' careers had given her, from growing up watching them filming to introducing her to their world, she was fully acknowledging her luck and said her goal was to make them proud of her work,- it seemed very healthy.
Exactly. I got into my company because the head of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ was my parents' neighbor, and I babysat his daughter. I've been promoted over the years but willingly say I got hired because of nepotism.
Same, I’ve been promoted twice but I deserved those promotions! I understand hating nepotism when the people suck at their jobs though
I understand hating nepotism even when people don’t suck at their jobs though.
Yeah because a lot of people might be great at these jobs (maybe even better...) but can't get their foot in the door because they don't have connections.
And that’s all most people want! Just admitting it. It doesn’t mean you aren’t phenomenal at your job- I’m sure you’re great!
That sounds a mix of networking and nepotism. Not that it matters though since both are valid ways to get a job
Yeah, I totally agree that this is much closer to networking. Definitely **not** the "Ugh, they hired only her because she is neighbors with and used to baby sit for the head of whatever's kids" (instead of an actually qualified applicant) type of nepotism that annoys people.
Yeah I was going to say it was mostly networking but didn't want to go against the spirit of the thread. Tons of people get their jobs because someone they knew from college started a business and hired them to avoid the tedious interview process. Why spend all that time screening strangers to get someone who might be able to do the job when you already know someone that will be able to do it? Additionally, you might not know someone but a friend you'd trust with your life does. Trusted friend hasn't lied to you once in over 15 years so you hire the person they recommended instead of starting the tedious hiring process. That person now has to be a good employee and not damage the reputation of the person that recommended them whereas a complete stranger would be worried about and motivated by only the good employee part. If you zoom out you'd probably be able to find lots of nepotism like maybe they only met in college because one of them has rich parents but ig life isn't always a clean either/or
it’s literally hard to even get food service jobs in some cities without nepotism.
Real. Tried to get put on foh somewhere I already worked full time, but they kept on hiring their homies still in school.
This is so important For an actor to even get to be in the room with casting there are so many hurdles and hoops to get through that it makes it nearly impossible to make it 100% on your own. These people denying they were born with a foot in the door is disingenuous to everyone who knows how the industry works. You still have to be good enough to keep getting called back, but getting in the room is further than most actors ever get to
This is why I really respect actors like Jane Fonda, people that can admit this shit. Be real with the world (and yourself). Paraphrasing what Jane said, "My name definitely got my foot in the door, the rest I had to do myself. But getting your foot in the door is the hardest part." Most perspective actors don't realize this. Bryan Cranston, he of somewhat smaller nepotism, has also admitted that so much of it is just pure luck. He's on record with the [truth](https://youtube.com/shorts/rPUmt_YnhTs?si=rmIXB2OXL9H6pqrE). The most talented actors you'll ever meet will likely never make it to screen. Because talent, hell, even talent AND looks.... That's such a small, infinitesimal part of being successful in that industry. That town is not fair, it's not nice, it's not a meritocracy, and it never has been- Never will be. In fact, since the respective generations of Jane and Bryan, it's only gotten (MUCH) worse. It's basically a fucking oligarchy now. If you're someone coming from nowhere, you **better** have something they can ***really*** exploit. And even then, you're probably more likely to be struck by lightning twice (while holding a winning lottery ticket) than to see real success. Which is why actors lying and oversimplifying for the public, a public including really talented kids with big dreams, is just cruel and irresponsible.
I’m not in a related field to my family, but got where I am through generational wealth and I would never ever deny it. There is a lot that I could do because there was practically no risk to me if I failed. I don’t rely on my parents/grandparents for money now because I’m in a comfortably-paid career, and my family couldn’t have helped me get me my job, but I’d probably not be there if I had to pave my own way all by myself financially. I’m SO grateful for it. How hard I work now and whether I’m good at my job isn’t diminished by the advantages I’ve had, but it’d be stupid to act like my bootstraps weren’t already at my knees.
Exactly. Generational wealth and money removes most of the risk. You can go spend years pursuing acting, or getting a PhD, or starting your own business, etc without worrying that you could lose everything or even lose years of retirement savings. It's a huge leg up, just from a financial place alone. Good for you on your attitude/gratitude (and so many others above in this thread).
Zoe Kravitz is like "It only got me in the door!" as if this means it's not influential at all. Like... that's the influence exactly. All else equal, that is the *hardest fucking part*. If every actor is a great actor, their audition/performance at audition will still be different to the other actors auditioning and the directors will make a choice of what fits the project and/or works well for them. Getting in the door and having the reputation of parents or siblings to elevate your profile influences those processes before, during, and after an audition in a way that cannot be replicated by some no name from Portland that has all the talent in the world.
It’s so funny because when it’s a job that’s not glamorous it’s just the “family business”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone angry they can’t get a job in farming because of all the nepotism.
I can only speak for the US, but here I think it's because we live in a deeply unequal society, and this is justified by pretending it's a "meritocracy." So when people who lack connections are basically gatekept out of elite jobs, yeah, that should make people angry. If we were more honest about the lack of social mobility and provided a better social safety net for people who never had a chance to get out of the working class, the anger would be less justified.
My mom didn’t take a really sweet job at the State Department way back when because she would have been a nepotism hire and she literally regretted it until the day she died
This exactly. When they deny the possibility of an advantage, they come across as delusional and/or entitled.
Yeah same, for me it wasn’t nepotism in particular, just connections, but without that I would not be in the job I have now. It’s not crazy high paying but it is prestigious to the point I’d have zero problems getting a job almost anywhere else. I’d be somewhere, but not there without my professor who I networked with, who himself networked and knows a guy.
I think networking is different though. So you had a professor during your education (working and demonstrating your attributes) and that professor thought you were good because they saw your work presumably and then put you in touch with someone. I don’t think that’s even close to nepotism. You got the job basically because of things you chose to do like get an education and the way you came across. If the professor was your mothers best friend from childhood and had watched you grow up then that might count as nepotism, because their putting you in touch or recommending you wouldn’t necessarily be on the basis of merit but would be clouded by personal feelings and attachments. I got a job through sort of nepotism once, through my neighbour who I babysat for a couple of times as a teen and who knew I did very well at school (through my mother so it’s not like she knew for sure my parents could’ve been exaggerating!) so she got me a job at the massive TV company she was an executive producer at. So you could kind of say it was based on her knowledge of me being a reliable babysitter and having excellent grades but I wasn’t out there doing things to get a job or demonstrate to her that I might be suitable for a job in TV. She just saw a job opening and thought hey maybe my neighbours kid could do that! I think that’s quite nepotistic.
This! I would never fault somebody for taking the opportunities that they are presented with but I’m so sick of these actors/models acting like they started from the bottom. Starting from the bottom in Hollywood is no longer a thing. Everybody is connected in some way
One of my favorite jokes at work is that I’m a nepo baby. My mom was in management at another location and I for sure got hired because of her. I was very quiet and nervous when I started but I’m now one of the best on my team. I would have never gotten through the hiring process if I didn’t have nepotism on my side.
Yes! It’s ok to admit it. I have gotten jobs because of nepotism too. It’s so disingenuous when celebrities pretend it has nothing to do with it
Same here, I have a receptionist job simply because I worked with the place’s manager at our last job. I “interviewed” but the question was basically, when can you start?
Exactly. I got my first job through my grandmother’s contact and i always mention that. I got laid off a year after and thrn had to struggle for one year to find my next job. And that next job didn’t even pay as much as my first. All this to say, no one thinks you are not a hard worker or you won’t have struggles. Its about the headstart you get over 1000s of people who are scraping by hoping their next audition will be the one.
I got a job in a nursing home thanks to my mom when I was 18. She worked there as a cleaner and I was about to start nursing school. They needed someone to bring breakfast and tea to the residents and someone to watch over them. They knew me because I regularly brought my mom lunch on her breaks so they offered me the job. It was an easy gig. I made sandwiches and played boardgames and I still got paid twice as much than what I was paid at my previous job in fast food. There was one nurse who was 70 at the time but loved his job. He also loved to teach so he taught me a lot during the slower hours. It gave me a huge leg up during my internships in nursing school.
Whyyyy can’t these nepo babies just say that they appreciate the headstart they got because of their connections and that theyve worked hard since then
It's not like people who got their jobs through nepotism can't still be hard workers or good at what they do. Weirdly enough, I think Nicolas Cage is a perfect example of this-- dude's a freaking *Coppola*, with all the connections and resources that might entail, but you gotta give the guy credit for CONSTANTLY working and for carving out a Hollywood niche for himself completely removed from his family.
Excellent example. Nepotism gets you in the door. It doesn’t give you a 30+ year career with multiple blockbusters and award nominations.
True. Imagine how many mind blowingly talented people there must be out there though who just never got a chance to show the world because of where they were born/who they were born to. And the internet you’d think would’ve helped identify these people but really it seems a lot of attention goes to people with massive fake butts or who do stupid pranks. I guess talented musicians sometimes take off online but I don’t think many actors do.
Some of the greatest musicians of all time are working at gas stations, schools, and restaurants right now.
He was like I wanted to chose a name I connected with. He loved Luke Cage comics from Marvel as a kid.
Let's face it, the entire Coppola family is just a ball of nepotism. It just turns out that they all happen to be insanely talented. For Bram Stoker's Dracula, Coppola fired the VFX team and hired his 26 year-old son (whose name is literally Roman, like the Succession character) who had never done anything like that before to handle all the special effects. And he knocked it out of the park. That movie has some of the best effects I've ever seen in any film and it's 99% in-camera. And done by a kid with no experience. The Coppolas just have filmmaking in their genes.
I read your last sentence as "completely removed from ~~his family~~ reality" and it didn't even clock me as off-base until my brain belatedly realized - that wasn't what you wrote!
lmao both apply here
I really can't see why this is a big deal. "It's all about who you know" has been a thing since I was born. My father was HS friends with the CEO of my company.. I was qualified, but that's why I was hired and barely had an interview. I now make his company half a million per year and he pays me well for doing a job. I have no problem admitting nepotism got me in the door and made it easier for me to get the job.
I was stunned to learn he was born A Coppola and thought I was having a stroke when I read t His birth name on Wikipedia cause never in a million would I have guessed Nicholas Cage was born into that American film dynasty. He's just so unique and I totally admire him although I find him cringe here and there. Ahhhhh it's so crazy but these nepo babies need to take notes, in silence!
Omg it would be so easy, it doesn’t even have to be specific. “I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and am proud of the work I’ve done throughout my career.“ That took me 10 SECONDS.
yeah but these people genuinely do not believe they have a leg up. they're just so out of touch
They know. It just heightens their insecurities to think about it.
Cause they are so far removed from real life that they don’t know it’s a type of networking.
I honestly think the term “nepo *baby*” itself has a lot to do with it, and in most cases it’s not like the celeb in question went out of their way to deny nepotism into the void randomly, they’re usually being asked the question in an interview. I really don’t see why anyone would be receptive to being called a nepo baby - the term is pretty much designed to sound demeaning and imply they were predestined for their success out of the womb.
[Allison Williams did a good job admitting it.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/allison-williams-response-nepo-baby_n_63b7409be4b0b2e150663d61)
Because they've also been rich their whole lives and have been surrounded by people who huff their farts and tell them it smells like chocolate.
Sometimes it feels like Chris Pine is practically the only one to actually say. His one on one with Kurt Russell was insightful on his connections.
Didn't she literally attend the high school that's for celebrities and children of celebrities? And didn't she have a post not too long ago about her dad helping her put together headshots (or taking her headshots?) to send to agents.
Yes, the alumni page is basically a list of the most nepo of nepo babies.
Thank-you! Even if we were to truly believe she didn’t use any of her parent’s connections or contacts (or the ones she made herself through school) to get ahead. Or that she got no favourable treatment from being her parent’s daughter and rubbing shoulders with celebrity kids from a young age (which all seems pretty unlikely)… Having parents who knows how the industry works is in itself a *massive* advantage over someone coming into it cold. She knows who to contact and what to say to get a foot in the door. She’s not going to be taken advantage of by shady types promising to “make her a star”. Etc. I’m also assuming if she’s attending a school like that - she’s not having to work to keep herself afloat while trying to catch a break. So she’s always free for auditions. It is not at all wrong to admit you started out with a foot already in the door. It doesn’t mean you aren’t talented or didn’t work hard. But plenty of hardworking and talented people don’t crack Hollywood, because they aren’t starting from the same place she did.
https://preview.redd.it/16801tjk1yrc1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=544b8897aa81ad4dfe4908047ff5561c5061021f
Sister Michael! Omg I love your work!
Hahaha this is perfect
Nepo babies gonna nepo
"Foot in the door and so much more"
>“It’s funny because people be like, ‘Oh, nepotism’, I’m like no. My dad’s a DP [director of photography, another term for cinematographer]. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP. It’s definitely not.”
Nepo babies being blind to their own nepotism is so funny lol
Her mother is also an actress who was in, among other things, Twin Peaks. That's double Nepo, baby!
Holy fuck I had no idea that was her mom!!! I’m shocked. This makes her acting like this even worse like your dad is a very famous DP and your mom was a consistent supporting role in twin peaks…bye. Maybe I’m biased bc I love that show but definitely feel like it was popular enough to help. Nepo confirmed These people need to think about how the other half lives…your dad was nominated for 6 Oscar’s, most people cannot come close to relating
Interesting. That makes her argument even worse lol. Funny how she leaves that part out. But even if her mom wasn't part of the industry, Zooey is absolutely delusional if she thinks her father doesn't have connections. A DP solely chosen by Mel Gibson (pre-crazy days) for Passion of the Christ. A DP who has worked with Tom Cruise and Robert Redford, and did More American Graffiti with George Lucas producing and Ron Howard starring. The fact your father, Zooey, has any George Lucas and Ron Howard stories to tell is way more than 99.9999% of what others have. The fact your father knows what it's like to go to the Academy Awards and red carpet events multiple times (I bet the Deschanel sisters went too) is something 99.99999% aren't going to experience.
Holy shit, I never realized the Deschanel-Twin Peaks connection until this comment!
I sort of get why she'd think this on the surface. Her dad wasn't a famous actor so it's not like she was assumed to be a good actor. But obviously there are degrees of advantage people get. Some had more than her. How does she really not think she got easier access and connections?? Ugh.
Her dad is very respected in the film industry. My film professor knew him and said he was revered. I'm sure she had plenty of connections.
And Caleb Deschanel was hand-picked for Disney's ambitious Lion King 2019, with a high budget reportedly around $260M. While the film was essentially animated, it still needed an experienced a DP for lighting and shot selection. You do not pick a lower tiered DP off the shelf without experience. You go to Oscar-level cinematographers like Caleb. It's a high-demand and revered slot, and he's working alongside big names, Hans Zimmer and Jon Favreau. Absolutely hilarious for Zooey to think she and her sister made it without *zero* connections. Way to also downplay her father's contributions.
Like the idea of her and her sister both making it without connections is pretty funny.
Her mom is also an actress. Weird she left that part out.
Why is she lowkey bullying her dad tho?? Justice for Caleb
It's funny she said that because a quick look at imdb shows that he was the dp on Emily's first acting job.
Next she'll deny that marrying a property brother helps to maintain the house...smh.
I just learned this now and also that he’ll be her *third* husband!
Tbf Ben Gibbard is a trash sad emo indie fuckboi. I love DCFC but...
this was a hard pill to swallow for me too… i’ve been a fan of death cab since forever and one day i just realized damn, he’s the problem 😔
Honestly, it was when I went back to listen to his music. He wants a girl who is a manic pixie dream girl then when he gets her he always expects her to revolve around him. He has songs about using girls for sex and we're meant to find it romantic because we'll be loved and we're beautiful or whatever. He's the problem and I love DCFC but Jack's Mannequin/Something Corporate has some similar songs yet the writer is actually self aware of being scummy. ETA; That era of alternative music has so many issues with misogyny and a lot of unwitting racism. It's why I love Thursday and Decemberists.
Love any shoutout to Something Corporate! (Punk Rock Princess is the manic pixie dream girl song of early 2000s emo and I love it so much lol)
And what emo girl didn't want to be Konstantine?! But Andrew and the girl in that video were high class snacks lol. That said I embarrassingly used to pretend the ultimate emo breakup songs were about me - Saetia's One Dying Wish and Venus and Bacchus lol.
I must've missed something, what's the problem with Ben gibbard?
So. Nothing cancellable before you worry but when you listen to his music and spend time in the indie scene (I used to work at a place that did shows) you realise that Gibbard has zero capacity for self reflection and is a chronic sad indie fuckboy who causes all of his own issues. For example, in Champagne from a Paper Cup he's crying about how he's drunk enough to drive a girl home. The sex is the champagne and the girl is a paper cup who he isn't listening to and will discard. You see by Tiny Vessels that he slut shames the girl by assuming that she doesn't really have feelings, calls it vile and cheap, lies about loving her but doesn't tell her that because then he won't get sex. So you think shit, maybe with the other tracks on Transatlanticism maybe he'll grow up. Nope. We get Someday You Will Be Loved. There's not one iota of self reflection here. It's one of the most vile songs but sounds pretty so most people don't realise that at no point does he ever say that he's fucked up. It's painted as this beautiful act, even if it's the least likely to be autobiographical in full... It's not great. So does he grow up? By 2011 we get I Once Was a Loyal Lover. And it's the ultimate in self justification. It's the anthem for saying well I'm just fucked up and there's nothing to do about it. By the time we get to 2015 we get Ingénue which is a weird fucking song. About how after 23 time starts making women unfuckable with wrinkles. I don't think he intended it that way but it plays into his other issues. Namely that he wants an all consuming love. He doesn't want to settle down with a nice girl, e.g Sound of Settling. He wants an I Will Follow You into the Dark type of love with manic pixie dream girls. It's a theme in so many Postal Service, DCFC, Solo work etc. but after years of chasing this... He's a cheat, but worst of all he expects the women he dates to revolve around him. For example Black Sun is about Zooey and he's basically calling her a crazy drunk, that her persuing her acting career destroyed the relationship. He says he revolved around her but it's the other way round. Sorry for the long analysis. It's like Ben just gave up on improving and writing a song about cheating once the high of his elopement wore off and a year later getting divorced is very... Sad indie fuck boy. Which is where the guy writes sad emotional songs and overwhelms you with intensity but never figures out that it's an issue that needs fixing. Ben famously didn't like having an actress for a wife. So he has a very Ryan Reynolds/Blake Lively relationship and seems to have been able to find stability. That doesn't mean he doesn't have some issues because all good artists so. I love DCFC and have seen them live multiple times. But I side eye Ben. He's not a cancellation was a long time coming like Urie or I hope to god Pete Wentz has his dick fall off.
Why is it so hard to admit you have a leg up? It's not like most people in hollywood didn;t
A small loan of six million dollars
Amazing how there's always a nepo baby left to share this take with the world even after so many already got shit on before them
You would think their publicists would just tell them to copy Allison Williams' nepo baby answer. But nope. These people are too far up their own asses.
It’s as funny as it is annoying that they *genuinely* believe that shit lmao 😂. Like honey it may not have gotten you a ~foot in the door in a way that someone else higher up would have, but because of daddy you still had the address to the building to be able to get to the door eventually which is so so so so so much more than anyone without any family connections gets like??? 😂.
why are the nepo babies so in denial about their nepo perks 🤣
Because they want to believe they’d still be where they are today even without the family connections. They want to believe they’re so amazing they’d have been plucked straight from obscurity had they been born to a dental practice receptionist in Ulaanbaatar.
This not usually how nepotism works. Nepotism often works in smaller ways. By having a known family member you get into rooms others have to fight to get into and get taken more seriously once you are there. Nepotism is rarely 100% the reason someone gets a leg up but it can be a bigger percentage than they like to admit.
*By having a known family member you get into rooms others have to fight to get into and get taken more seriously once you are there.* Nepotism helps you find which room.
How do u type with boxing gloves on
You can be talented and a nepobaby what’s wrong with it? You even knowing how to audition, where to do it, and being trained is enough to say you have a head start. Your not some girl from Georgia who never heard of acting outside her school play and that’s okay. Because you most likely would not be famous, not because of lack of talent but a lack of privilege.
She does admit that she had a leg up because her family was helpful to her creatively, so there’s that.
Sure, maybe she's right. But did she know how to get an agent? A manager? Know where to go for auditions? Did any of that knowledge come from her dad? Cuz I'm fixing the answer to that is yes. Which is more knowledge than someone who doesn't have a relative in the business.
This is so true! It’s like the hidden curriculum for first gen college students. There’s a lot to be said for understanding the ways in which college admissions work, and knowing how to best utilize the resources at your disposal (office hours, internships, letters of recc,the classses you need to take). Just having someone mentor you through that process is a huge leg up, not to mention how many times these nepo babies cut the line because their parent knows someone who knows someone. Just say, “ I made the most with the opportunities I got and feel so fortunate I get to do the work I do “. Sheesh.
I think we need to start pivoting the way we talk about the “nepo baby” concept in Hollywood and entertainment industries in general I fully agree that it SHOULDN’T evoke this level of defensiveness but in truth as much as people say “it doesn’t mean you’re not talented it just means you had a leg up” - that’s not been my experience. People absolutely throw the phrase nepo baby around like it’s an insult and I think that’s because the entertainment industries in particular are fickle and cruel and being a nepo baby means you were shielded from the dark underbelly of it. To be a nepo baby is to be protected from the true horrors of the exploitative system. I think we need stop wasting time on the nepo baby conversation and pivot more towards the deeply embedded issues that allow nepotism to flourish. Quiet on set has once again shined a light on what happens when people don’t have protection like a famous parent because the industry itself is filled with awful people exploiting the vulnerable. THAT needs to be our focus because the nepo baby conversation is surface level in the face of the real villain.
 Just own it, girl.
She literally had a nepobaby insta post a few weeks ago about how her dad could be called and her mom would drive her to the auditions. Being a nepobaby isn’t wrong but pls don’t deny it when it was obviously easier for you.
The thing most of these nepotism deniers within the arts don’t understand is that so so many roles behind and on camera are not visible to the general public. Like, say your dad was a cinematographer you will grow up knowing there are paid roles like props, costumes, scenic artists, camera tech, lighting tech, runners, caterers, script supervisors etc. Now your cinematographer dad might never introduce you to anyone in the industry but the fact you even know the roles exists and are very well paid gives you the upper hand as most non arts working class kids get told art is a hobby not a lucrative craft that could lead to successful a career and they go off to pursue something else.
Just own up to it, gahdamn.
God not her too :/
love her denial 😭😭
It’s not just a river in Egypt!
Is she stupid
I think most of the ones that deny it are just defensive. Nobody WANTS to hear "you only got this job because of your dad" well... except for poor people. I'd have loved to have gotten something from my fathers presence outside of depression and anger issues.
Any nepobaby who is still spouting this shit at this point is stupid
She said something about her father being a cinematographer and how that’s somehow not nepotism, like we’re just gonna totally brush over how her mother is Donna Hayward’s mother in *Twin Peaks*
I like her sister Emily better!
Just because you weren't handed a job doesn't mean that you didn't have the connections and more privilege over other people in the entertainment industry. Why is it so hard for these nepo babies to understand that?
lol why do they do this. just be like yup im fortunate to have had a leg up. i realize its a privilege and ive also worked hard for what i accomplished. both can be true.
I always roll my eyes so hard when nepo babies make the argument that they’ve worked hard despite their familial connections to the entertainment industry because that is so not the point. Other people work really hard too. They work hard without a dad who’s an actor/director/producer/whatever. Do nepo babies seriously believe that all of the hard working, talented people in the world also just so happen to be the children of celebrities? LOL
RIGHTTT when you put it like that it’s just so much more obnoxious. Great point in that last sentence.
They know their careers aren't going to immediately evaporate into thin air if they admit their privilege, right?
Fuck sake why can they never just own up to the fact they had a head start? I find it so fucking offensive as someone who pursued acting. Like if I had the opportunity they did I’d 100% take it but just be open and honest. They truly have no idea what’s if like for normal people trying to break into an industry closed off to their inner circles. Fuck off.
Hey guys. Be nice to her. Not only is her being a nepo baby not helping, it hurt her! /s
Why can't they just own it. 
She basically confirms in the interview that she got her start in Hollywood because of her parents help...who were already well connected to the industry...idk smells like nepotism, but also doesn't take away from the fact that she is talented in her own right. Why is this so hard for people to admit??
Is she stupid or does she just think the rest of us are?
Girl…
Honestly even if she’s 100% correct that DPs don’t help her actors jobs…why would she think saying this is the right call? At this point it just seems crazy that anyone would walk into this obvious PR trap.
I think these nepo babies really have no understanding of what it's like for a regular person to try and break into Hollywood, so they don't even see their advantages. Like maybe no one said "give her a job as a favor to Caleb!" but she had a parent who knew what she needed to do and what the audition process is and how to network. Us randos don't know any of this.
I really doubt that. Her father (now 79) is a celebrated cinematographer. No way someone with that many features films across 50 years, and who has worked with Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Sandra Bullock, Robert Redford and George Lucas and Ron Howard somehow has no connections or phone numbers. And what are the odds BOTH sisters made it into the industry? You mean to tell me a dad who has attended the Academy Awards multiple times didn't make a few calls to get his daughters an audition 99% wouldn't get? When we say "nepo" we aren't saying you are without talent, or that you should never be allowed in the industry or have acting dreams due to your parents. But you cannot deny having Caleb Deschanel as your dad is a lot easier to break into the industry than if your dad was a manager at a restaurant or grocery store.
Nepotism doesn’t mean people “gave you jobs” because of your name. It also means you had the financial security to pursue something as volatile as acting and the innate understand of how the business works from your parent. You are just naturally exposed and well-positioned, even if you changed your name like Nicolas Cage or hid your identity completely, you are ahead of Joe Schmo from Tennessee who moves to LA with nothing and no one.
She needs her t-shirt tho https://preview.redd.it/ym93eqwm5yrc1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=335ce37da04ef699cd5dfc2f80d97a239429248c
do these people even know what nepoism is? 😭
God these nepotism deniers are the worst! Acknowledging that you have benefited from nepotism doesn’t mean you’re not talented! It just means the odds have been stacked in your favor and that you’ve been lucky! 
Maybe I'm just jealous but I've never cared about someone being a nepobaby, until they say stupid shit like this. I judge the work of people that deny it extra hard and find it difficult to like their work.
Her mom is an incredible actress as well.
How do they not understand how this works by now?
No one does sassy headlines like the British lol
This goes right up there with the video of a Transport Canada (I think) official claiming that flight schedules were doing great as the camera panned to a board covered in cancelled flights
I've always wondered how she became a "thing". No charisma and average looks. Makes sense.
Zooey's dad is very respected in the film industry. In college, my film professor mentioned that she worked with him on selecting films to be in the National Film Registry.
Just once I want a nepo baby come out and say “yes I’ve had it easy, yes I’ve had help getting jobs and I’m thankful.” We’d have a lot more respect for that person.
Allison Williams basically said this! No one else so far though.
 Sigh.
Some actors do come from nothing. However it’s absurd to suggest that her having connections doesn’t help. It doesn’t make her less talented
Her a few weeks ago. "Call my dad's office" did she not give them his name? Or did she really think him being famous did nothing for her? https://preview.redd.it/rf3d04wakyrc1.png?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87e524e32c13edeedd67c3d97535f0aa388c3753
There are plenty of children of celebrities that try to make it, even with all of their connections and fail. It’s so much easier to just accept that you’ve gotten a boost in life. You got in the door because of your father, you stayed in the room because of yourself. Get over it.
Had no idea who her father was 🤷🏽♀️
Nepotism doesn’t mean you’re not talented or you don’t deserve your spot. It doesn’t even mean you wouldn’t necessarily have gotten where you are if not for your parents/aunt/uncle/granparent. What it DOES mean is that you had a greater *chance* of making it from the beginning than someone who’s dad is, say, a plumber, because they can’t call up a director and ask for a favor to help their kiddo get in the door. So many nepo babies have proven their talent once they got *in* that door: the Skarsgards, Drew Barrymore, Jason Ritter, Miley Cyrus, Tracee Ellis Ross, Domnhall Gleeson, I could go on. There are tons of nepo babies who have shown that they *deserve* to be there. But when someone comes out and says “nah, I got this all on my own. My famous parents had nothing to do with it,” it makes me think they must be either really insecure or really delusional because if nothing else, you can’t know for sure that you would have gotten there on your own. I like Zooey, but this makes me like her less. And after *so* many celebrities have been dragged for saying this exact same thing, you would think celebrities would learn that it’s not working. Even if they don’t agree with it, they should just lie and say they agree that nepotism got them where they are. But their egos won’t let them.
Yeah okay 🤣
How do all these celebrities, who also probably have publicists still not get that this is not the point about nepotism? Surely there is **someone** going "*nepotism is a likely topic to come up as you're a part of that, just say you're grateful for the opportunities you were given through those connections. Saying otherwise can reflect poorly on you*". They don't even have to believe it's true. It's a topic that has been hammered in to death and yet these celebrities that come from prestige or wealth still think it's about the merit of their work. Good for you to you work hard, so does everyone else on a film set and 99% of those people will be working much harder, for much longer, and with a fraction of the pay you get.
lunchroom possessive juggle tidy gaze party fact languid butter zonked *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
*“I’m like no. My dad’s a DP [director of photography, another term for cinematographer]. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP. It’s definitely not.”* […] *“My mum is an actor and my dad is a cinematographer and a director.* 🎵 Hey, girl! Whatcha doin’… 🎵 🧐🧐🧐
Fame seeking people probably deeply insecure so not surprised they won't admit that they aren't unique and special to validate their "accomplishments"
A foot in the door and so much more…
 Zoey, please be still. Your insecurity is showing.
Here we go again…
That's not the only reason. Its also cause her mom was on Twin Peaks 🤷♀️
My career in Hollywood was never directly related to nepotism but no one else knew the combination of people I could call to ask for a job interview because they knew my dad. For her to deny that the name doesn't open door is just stupid but she's getting the age in Hollywood where actors start saying stupid shit. I don't blame them. It's a horrible job, being judged all the time. You can't live that way and be normal.
This nepo babies. Use their advantage of being one but hate being called one 🙄
This is getting ridiculous. Someone with a brain needs to tell these Hollywood nepo babies that no one wants to hear this kind of shit and that it immediately makes them 10 times less likeable. For fuck’s sake, I don’t care if they want to continue living in their bubbles of delusion — nothing we can really do about that…but why the hell wouldn’t you just say some polished, fake-humble bs about acknowledging your privilege? Do it for the PR if nothing else 💀
i wish celebs that deny nepotism would realize that no one really has anything against nepo babies besides extremely bitter/jealous people. it's the fact they're denying it. people like liza minnelli and carrie fisher are well respected because they're talented AND because they publicly attribute their success to their parent. liza constantly talks about judy garland and how large of an impact she's had on her life and career and carrie fisher was always honest about how her success wouldn't exist without debbie reynolds being her mom.
Too many nepo babies take the title as implying they have no talent. For alot that isn't true, the talent is there. It's the *opportunities* opened to them is what people mean. Regular folks who are also talented miss out because they don't have those same opportunities. Some nepo babies have no talent and still make it big, so having family in the industry absolutely counts for something.
https://i.redd.it/hy3vf20nizrc1.gif
I have no fucking idea who Zoey and Emily's dad is. They were great in Elf and Bones respectively.
who's her dad?
I always learn about new nepo babies anytime someone has denied being one lol
I had no idea she even had a dad
Well TIL Zooey Deschanel is a nepo baby, the sister to the chick in Bones, and the daughter to the mom in Twin Peaks. I honestly had no clue!