Keeping It In The Family
Many Hollywood actors have acted alongside their children in various movies. Sometimes their children are already fully-fledged actors in their own right, while sometimes they are still children or the role is their first.
Often their children share their parents' love for acting and have built their own careers, while others might be there because they don’t have a babysitter perhaps. Whatever the case, many of these performances are absolutely amazing.
Ryan O'Neal and Tatum O'Neal
Ryan O’Neal was one of the most popular actor of the 60s. However, he hadn’t always an actor. O’Neal had first been a boxer before moving into acting. One of his most famous films, Paper Moon, actually had him starring opposite his own daughter Tatum.
To make this even more impressive, when Tatum appeared in the film as the character Addie Loggins she was a mere ten years old. She even managed to win a Best Actress Academy Award, making her the youngest person to ever win an Academy Award, a record which still stands.
Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight
While she was by no means unknown or new to the business, 2001’s Tomb Raider rocketed Angelina Jolie into the public spotlight as the character of Lara Croft. However, something that many people didn’t realize that in that movie she also played alongside her own father.
Her father is none other than silver screen veteran Jon Voight. Voight has won numerous Golden Globe Awards and had won an Academy Award for his role in the movie ‘Coming Home’. While this has been the only the film they have starred in together, we can’t wait for them to share the screen again.
Meryl Streep and Mamie Gummer
Following in the footsteps of a famous parent can be daunting. However, hoe much more daunting must it be if that parent is 17-time Oscar nominee Meryl Streep. Streep has been described by many as "The Best Actress Of Her Generation"
However, Mamie Gummer, who plays Nancy Crozier on The Good Wife and Emily Owens MD in the show of the same name, is none other than Streep’s own daughter. She has steadily been building a name for herself and she has even appeared alongside her mother in the films Evening and Ricki And The Flash.
Natasha Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave is a highly acclaimed actress who has starred in may films such as Letters to Juliet, Mission Impossible, and even Camelot. She and her daughter Natasha Richardson also appeared alongside each other in the film Evening. Yes, that’s the same film Streep and Gummer appeared in.
However, they are not the only members of the family with a passion for film and acting. Natasha’s father, Tony Richardson, was both a director and producer, while her grandparents were also actors.
Rumer Willis and Demi Moore
Rumer Willis is none other than the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. She is the eldest of her siblings and has a good career in her own right. However, she appeared alongside her mother several times. The first of these was also her film debut in Now And Then in 1995.
The very next year she shared the screen with Demi in the drama Striptease in 1996. While Demi Moore is well known for her role in Ghost, which really put her on the map, Rumer gained most of her spotlight once she won the 20th season of Dancing With The Stars.
Sylvester Stallone and Sage Stallone
Everyone knows the Rocky films. Sylvester Stallone received instant stardom after the first film in the franchise. The films are also known for their amazing soundtracks. Who doesn’t love jamming along to Eye of The Tiger by Survivor?
However, Sly Stallone actually shared the screen with his son in 1990’s Rocky V. His son, Sage Stallone, played none other than the son of Rocky Balboa, Rocky Balboa Jr. This means that not only did he star opposite his own father but was even playing his son in the film. In 1996 they shared the screen again in the action movie Daylight.
Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen
Ramón Estévez began his career in the mid-1950s under a pseudonym. He quickly became an international star after his roles in films like The Subject Was Roses (1968), Badlands(1973), and above all, Apocalypse Now (1979). That’s right, we’re talking of Martin Sheen
We all know Charlie sheen, beleaguered as his career may have been due to personal problems, as the star of films like Hot Shots and the series Two And A Half Men. However, in the film Wall Street, Charlie appeared along with his father. They would share the screen again in Charlie’s show Anger Management.
Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, and Cameron Douglas
Talk about keeping it the family. The film It Runs In The Family, legend Kirk Douglas starred alongside Michael Douglas and Cameron Douglas. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that in reality they are father, son, and grandson, just like their characters in the film.
Kirk Douglas was one of the stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, while his son Michael is not only an actor and producer, but he also won a Best Actor Oscar for the film Wall Street (yes, the one with the Sheens). Cameron is also an actor though he’s been keeping a lower profile.
Will and Jaden Smith
A film debut can sometimes be what an actor is remembered for. In the case of Jaden Smith, his film debut in The Pursuit of Happiness will forever be a remarkable role. At the tender age of 8, Jaden played the 5-year-old son of the main character, played by his father, Will Smith.
Jaden didn’t stop acting there, however. He appeared in films such as 2008’s The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Karate Kid, and even appeared with his father again in After Earth. Jaden, however, has been focusing on a career as a rapper.
Will and Willow Smith
Yes, we’re still talking about Will Smith. Not only has he shared the screen with his son Jaden on more than one occasion, but he also appeared alongside his daughter Willow in the film I Am Legend, which was her film debut.
Like her brother she has been focusing on a music career and has released several songs, most notably Whip My Hair and 21st Century Girl. She even reached the 11th spot on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2015 she released an album, Ardipithecus, which was a huge success.
Jada Pinkett-Smith and Willow Smith
Clearly the Smith family is highly active, giving them their third entry on this list. Jada Pinkett-Smith also appeared on screen with her daughter Willow. Jada is well known for being a TV host, comedienne, and actor, and for her role in the 90s sitcom True Colors.
You’ll be forgiven for not remembering seeing mother and daughter together, because you never really saw them. Jada voiced the hippo Gloria in the Madagascar movies and in the sequel, she has a daughter, young Gloria, who was voiced by Willow Smith.
Leslie Mann and Iris and Maude Apatow
Leslie Mann is an American actor who has appeared in many films like The Cable Guy and George Of The Jungle*. She began her career when she was 18 and now she's famous worldwide. She is married to filmmaker Judd Apatow, with whom she has two daughters, Iris and Maude.
Maybe the two movies she enjoyed filming the most were Knocked Up in 2007 and This Is 40 in 2012. The reason? Well, in both cases, her two daughters worked by her side! Mann declared that she really likes the company of her daughters on-set.
Eva Amurri and Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood history, and she has received an Academy Award, a BAFTA , and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has starred in many classics such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Thelma & Louise .
Susan and her daughter, the actress Eva Amurri starred together Dead Man Walking and The Banger Sisters, in which they actually played mother and daughter. They also appeared in an episode of the TV series Friends, where Susan had to slap her own daughter in the face!
Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner
It's really encouraging to have the support of your parents in the profession that you choose. This is the case of the Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who is the daughter of the successful star Blythe Danner.
Blythe Danner has won many awards, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony.One of her most recent successful roles has been that of Dina Byrnes in Meet The Parents. Her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, is also a consolidated actress, and they have worked together in Sylvia.
Kiefer and Donald Sutherland
In the Sutherland family, passion for acting runs through everyone's veins. Donald and Kiefer Sutherland, father and son, both share their passion for acting as well as their talent. Donald has a career of more than five decades and his son is following his steps.
Kiefer Sutherland is well-known for his role as Jack Bauer in the FOX series 24. Father and son shared the screen in 1996 in the movie A Time To Kill. Kiefer has declared many times that his father is his big inspiration and mentor in his career.
Tina Fey and Alice Richmond
Sometimes mother and daughter not only share the same profession, but also the same personality! Well, this is definitely the case of Alice Richmond and Tina Fey, two famous actresses known for their hilarious sense of humor!
Tina's career in comedy has been a complete success ever since she first appeared in Saturday Night Live in 1997. From 2006 to 2013, she was part of the acclaimed comedy series 30 Rock in the company of her daughter, Alice. Mother and daughter are like two copycats!
Jerry Stiller and Ben Stiller
Well, one thing is for sure: Ben Stiller certainly shares his parents' sense of humor and charisma! Definitely, The Stillers are one the most hilarious families in Hollywood history.
Together, they shared the screen in Zoolander. And guess what? Ben's older sister, Amy Stiller, was part of it too! Amy belongs in the stand-up comedy world, and she's just as talented as the rest of her family!
Bruce Willis and Rumer Willis
Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore has appeared on-screen with her mother, but she has worked alongside her father as well! In the company of her father, she appeared in the movies The Whole Nine Yards in 2000 and Hostage.
Rumer has declared many times that she has learned a lot from both her parents and that she couldn't be more grateful for having them in her life..
Colin and Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks is another famous Hollywood icon whose son followed his steps. Colin Hanks became an actor just like his father, and guess what? In his film debut, the 1996 film That Thing You Do!, he shared the screen with his father.
Colin has been part of movies like King Kong, My Mom's New Boyfriend and Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, and he has rocked in all of them. Father and son had the opportunity to be on the same film once again in The Great Buck Howard.
Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus passed on to his daughter Miley Cyrus his love for music. Father and daughter are very talented musicians. Billy Ray has released twelve studio albums and his most remarkable single is Achy Breaky Heart.
On the other hand, Miley started off as a teen idol in 2006 and slowly became a famous pop singer. Her father helped her take her first steps in the art industry, especially in the Disney Channel TV series Hannah Montana. In fact, Billy Ray played the role of her father!
Stellan and Alexander Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård is a Swedish actor well-known for being part of movies like Breaking The Waves (1996) as Jan Nyman, The Hunt For Red October (1990) as Captain Tupolev, and Good Will Hunting (1997) as Professor Geral Lambeau.
Stellan's son, Alexander, is also a Swedish actor and he is just as talented as his father. Alexander is best known for the HBO series True Blood, where he played the role of vampire Eric Northam. Father and son worked together in the film Melancholia, released in 2011.
Angelina Jolie and Vivienne Jolie
Do you remember that Angelina Jolie acted with her father, John Voight, in her big break? Well, one of Angelina's children had the same opportunity. Vivienne Jolie-Pitt scored her role in Maleficient but for an unexpected reason…
Vivienne played the role of young Aurora and she was truly adorable! However, she landed that role because she was the only child who wasn't terrified of Jolie. Actually, her son Pax was also disturbed by his mother's claws and horns.
Johnny Depp and Lily-Rose Depp
Did you know that Johnny Depp has been nominated for 10 Golden Globe Awards? Not only that, but he has also won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.
Lily-Rose first appearance was in Tusk in 2014, which she starred with her father and Harley Quinn Smith. But this was not their only movie together, for they also shared the screen in ***Yoga Hosers ***.
Bridget and Peter Fonda
Bridget Fonda debuted in Easy Rider in 1969. It’s not strange to think that the 90s “It Girl” made her debut before she turned six years old, considering she is Peter Fonda's daughter, Jane Fonda's niece and Henry Fonda's granddaughter!
You can see Bridget with her brother Justin Fonda and mother Susan Brewer in the movie. However, she would appear once again on the big screen at 18, becoming well-known for her role in movies like Single White Female and Singles.
Dakota Johnson and Melanie Griffith
In the 1999’s comedy Crazy in Alabama, Dakota Johnson debuted with her mother Melanie Griffith and Meat Loaf. She was only ten years old when she appeared in the film.
At 11 years old, she walked the red carpet at the Oscar by her mom’s side, accompanied by her stepdad, Antonio Banderas. Nonetheless, her major break-through was going to be in the role of Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey, 17 years later!
Zelda and Robin Williams
Although House of D didn’t have positive reviews, it did have some notable moments. One of them is Anton Yelchin’s big break in the movie industry. Then, there’s one more reason to see Robin Williams, who shared the screen with Zelda Williams, his daughter.
Williams played a mentally-challenged deliveryman, whose best friend was Anton Yelchin. Zelda played as the daughter of one of Williams’s customers, and Yelchin is in love with her. More recently, we’ve seen Zelda play in the TV reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Clint and Scott Eastwood
We’ve seen Clint and Scott Eastwood collaborate in many movies, such as and Trouble with the Curve , Flags of Our Fathers and Gran Torino, and Invictus. In an interview with Esquire, Scott said that to nail his father’s character in a movie, he had one single advice: “Well, I wouldn’t have to speak that much.”
It seems his son took that advice and used it in other successful films such as Suicide Squad, The Fate of the Furious, and Pacific Rim: Uprising.
Michael Landon and Michael Landon, Jr.
The 70s heartthrob Michael Landon fathered eight children, so eventually, one of them was bound to show up in one of his movies. Actually, the fourth child, Michael Landon, Jr., recalled that “I would always go to the set and we were very close with Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson and all the kids.”
When he was 13 years old, he was an extra in "The Election", one of the episodes from Little House on the Prairie. Then, he also played the son of his father’s character in Bonanza and then in Bonanza: The Next Generation. Now, he is a producer.
Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
One of the many show-biz kids, we have Carrie Fisher who was the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. She even joked around that she’s debuted on the screen while in-utero. She was talking about the movie Bundle of Joy, where her mom’s character finds a baby on a doorstep.
When Carrie Fisher was 13, she appeared with her mom in the TV special Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children. At 15, she made her appearance in the Irene revival on Broadway, with her mother. Later on, we saw Carrie next to her mom in Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
Will, Abel, and Archie Arnett
While we know comedian Will Arnett is the voice of Batman in The Lego Batman Movie, you may not be aware that know his sons Archie and Abel were in that movie too, as the voices of two orphans.
Arnett said his sons bragged about lending their voices in The Lego Batman Movie to the son of the actress Idina Menzel (the voice of Elsa in Frozen). He joked Idina wasn’t happy: “Thanks,” she joked, saying “Now Frozen’s not good enough for my kids.”
Brad Pitt and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt
Angelina Jolie wasn’t the only Pitt-family member starring in a movie alongside their children. We saw Brad Pitt star with his daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Shiloh played his daughter, Caroline, for a short while in the movie.
Shiloh only appeared for a few seconds in the movie, in his lap. Later on, Shiloh voiced the character Shuai Shuai in Kung Fu Panda 3 back in 2016.
Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli grew up on the set of MGM studios since her parents, actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, worked there all day long. She even appeared in the movie In The Good Old Summertime (1949) at the age of one year and two months!
Liza has always been a natural. She was in her mom’s variety act at 7, and she became a TV hostess at 10 for the broadcast premiere of her mom’s most famous film, The Wizard of Oz. Liza continued her career in acting and singing, winning an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy.
Patrick and Daniel Stewart
Patrick Stewart may have showed up in over 100 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Captain Picard, but his favorite episode was “The Inner Light,” (fifth season). Why did he like the episode?
Patrick Stewart liked that episode because he acted alongside his son, Daniel Stewart, who was his son in the alternate-universe life. More recently, we’ve seen the two share a screen in the Starz original comedy Blunt Talk.
John and Hayley Mills
You may recall Hayley Mills from the original Parent Trap. She has been an actress since she was a baby, appearing next to her father John Mills, in the 1947 film So Well Remembered.
She re-debuted in another of his films, Tiger Bay. She plays the role of a kid who lives on the streets and her father is a police detective. One year later, she starred in Pollyanna and then The Parent Trap. She kept acting, but most of her parts have been pretty small.
George and Mayan Lopez
Since George Lopez had his own sitcom, he cast his daughter in one of the episodes on The George Lopez Show. She plays as a girl interested in George’s teenage son’s band in the episode “George Rocks to the Max and Gets Diss-Band-ed.”
George Lopez also shared screen time with his daughter in 2009 in Mr. Troop Mom. The film aired on Nickelodeon. More recently, Mayan appeared in Netflix’s Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie.
Lloyd, Jeff, and Beau Bridges
Although Jeff and Beau Bridges are successful without showing up in Lloyd Bridges’ movies, they did show up in Lloyd’s TV series The Lloyd Bridges Show when they were kids. Growing up, Jeff shared screen time with his dad in Tucker: The Man and His Dreams and Blown Away.
Meanwhile, Beau was a co-star with his dad in Harts of the West and the movie The Thanksgiving Promise, which also featured Beau’s son Jordan Bridges.
Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson
You may have noticed that Ron Weasley has six siblings in the Harry Potter movies, which means casting for children that had red hair was difficult. However, Brendan Gleeson, the actor who played Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody had a boy with red hair who was perfect for the role!
Domhnall Gleeson took the role of Bill Weasley and even appeared in a scene with his father during Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part I. We’ve also seen Domhnall in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi in the role of General Hux.
Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell
While we have never seen Kate Hudson share screen time with her mother Goldie Hawn, we did see them on The Ellen Show together. However, Hawn explained why they never showed up in the same movies:
“You have to look at the reality because we’re very well known apart. There’s a lot of expectation coming into it. You want to talk about baggage!”
Lea Thompson, Maddie Deutch and Zoey Deutch
The Year of Spectacular Men, is a movie where we see Lea Thompson in the role of a mother of two young daughters that were played by her real-life kids: Maddie Deutch and Zoey Deutch. Maddie wrote the script and Zoey produced the movie!
The three have also appeared in 2011 in the movie Mayor Cupcake, where Thompson's husband Howard Deutch was a producer.
Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith
Last but not least, we have added another popular duo: Tippi Hedren , who starred alongside her daughter Melanie Griffith, in a total of three movies.
In The Harrad Experiment, Melanie only had a small, uncredited role. In Roar the two played as mother and daughter, and we’ve also seen them in Pacific Heights.