Obvs nepo babies come in different hierarchies but regardless they come with a connection that non-nepo babies don't automatically have.
" No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP.”
Hmm depends cause even though she doesn't act anymore Claire Julien had a supporting role in The Bling Ring and her dad is Wally Pfister who's an Oscar-winning DP and worked a lot with Nolan on the Batman movies and Inception (he won for this one). She had a small role in Dark Knight Rises. Regardless that's an easy way to get on film set compared to those who don't have those connections.
Also Stanley Kubrick incorporated a lot of his family into the filmmaking process, his daughter Vivien scored Full Metal Jacket, as a woman in a very male-dominated industry would she have gotten that job without her dad? A help is a help.
I've always wondered about Billie Eilish and Finneas's mom. She's not hugely famous or anything but she did a fair amount tv work and worked as an acting coach too, cause she mentioned working with Melissa McCarthy and Melissa mentions knowing Billie from a young age. I imagine having a parent who familiar with the basics at best helps a lot cause you look at their success and it makes me wonder how much connections probably worked in Billie/Finneas's case. Obvs nothing is guaranteed BUT it does make you wonder a bit.
I think if you have a parent that trained in acting (or whatever Hollywood profession) and has even the barest semblance of connections and knowledge about how to make it in the industry, you get a leg up. If your parent has a Wikipedia page for being involved in Hollywood, you have connections a lot of people don't.
Even if your parents aren't well known to the average person or didn't work in Hollywood for very long, the fact that they have knowledge of how the industry works is already a huge advantage because they can help you avoid certain pitfalls and point you in the right direction, which are two things that non-industry parents don't have a clue about.
It's similar to how parents who went to college can tell you about the application process, help you choose classes in high school, tell you to schedule campus visits, explain about FAFSA/student loans/scholarships, etc. as opposed to someone who is the first person in their family to apply to college and has to seek out this information on their own. Does it guarantee that the former will get into their first choice school? No, but it still gives them an advantage over the latter.
At the bare minimum, having one parent who has worked in Hollywood already gives you a very valuable resource of information. And that's even if they have zero friends, coworkers, and other connections who can do things like get you an agent or into auditions.
And I know being a nepo baby doesn't guarantee success - I know of a few people who tried to nepobaby themselves into stardom and landed somewhere around the D list, but they're still working in some fashion to keep that SAG insurance active - but it gets you in the door. IDK why people who followed their parents into the industry don't admit that. Dr. Billy over here who grew up with his father Dr. Billy Sr. probably got a leg up by his father letting him shadow him at work, put in a good word for him with the alumni office, paid a hefty donation to the medical school and his undergrad, and gave him a job at the practice when he graduated. It's not just in Hollywood, it's a leg up in any industry. My brother is an EMT because he grew up with my grandfather being a volunteer EMT. I didn't follow anyone in my family's footsteps LMAO I paved my own path (my family are either starving artists or engineers).
A friend who's an academic offered to write me a letter of recommendation for grad school. When I gave him my list of schools, he informed me that his mother taught for many years at one of them and his father taught AND founded a department at another.
Meanwhile, mom worked in a factory and my father was a petty drug dealer.
can confirm, my parents own a company and i work there but don't really know why and totally don't deserve the job (but if someone wants it oh god come have it)
Exactly, my husband and I came from families where we were the first to go to university. My parents hadn't a clue about the process. Luckily both our schools helped us - the Internet was pretty young then so most research was done through books, some of which were out of date.
But I got a leg up in other ways. A lot of my student jobs were with people my parents knew. When I moved back to where I grew up, my dad's friend let him know there was a test for a job I wanted. It wasn't common knowledge and I wouldn't have found out otherwise.
Plus a thousand other ways that my schooling, lack of poverty, whiteness etc gave me a leg up. Didn't mean I didn't work hard when I got a foot in the door, just that I got help getting there.
Hell, my mum worked in television over 15 years ago and if that was my field, I know she could put me into contact with any of the networks. Would it guarantee anything? No, but it would be pretty much the biggest possible advantage one could have.
Yep! I remember Riley Keough mentioning that it helps cause it takes most people anywhere from 5-6 or more to land an agent or even a modeling contract whereas she could get one in a hour iirc just based on connections.
I'm glad she's aware of it because exactly. And in some cases it surely goes both ways, I completely understand why an agent wants to sign the granddaughter of Elvis, there are mutual benefits for sure lol
I found out a few years ago that my mother's second cousin is this Golden Age of Bollywood legend, and ever since I've wondered if I could have used that connection to nepo my way into Bollywood (an industry already brimming with nepotism). Then I remember I'm terrible at dancing and following choreography, which is the bare minimum for even the most talentless nepokid. 🥲 So much for that fantasy!
Sure! It's Vyjayanthimala, which gobsmacked me when my mother casually mentioned it to me one day lol, like, "oh yeah btw this old-time Bollywood lady is my cousin." (iirc it's my mother's dad and Vyjayanthimala's mother who are direct first cousins.)
But talent is sadly not hereditary, as I have two left feet and no sense of rhythm whatsoever. 🙃
" No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP.”
Hmm depends cause even though she doesn't act anymore Claire Julien had a supporting role in The Bling Ring and her dad is Wally Pfister who's an Oscar-winning DP and worked a lot with Nolan on the Batman movies and Inception (he won for this one). She had a small role in Dark Knight Rises. Regardless that's an easy way to get on film set compared to those who don't have those connections.
Also Stanley Kubrick incorporated a lot of his family into the filmmaking process, his daughter Vivien scored Full Metal Jacket, as a woman in a very male-dominated industry would she have gotten that job without her dad? A help is a help.
I've always wondered about Billie Eilish and Finneas's mom. She's not hugely famous or anything but she did a fair amount tv work and worked as an acting coach too, cause she mentioned working with Melissa McCarthy and Melissa mentions knowing Billie from a young age. I imagine having a parent who familiar with the basics at best helps a lot cause you look at their success and it makes me wonder how much connections probably worked in Billie/Finneas's case. Obvs nothing is guaranteed BUT it does make you wonder a bit.
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I think if you have a parent that trained in acting (or whatever Hollywood profession) and has even the barest semblance of connections and knowledge about how to make it in the industry, you get a leg up. If your parent has a Wikipedia page for being involved in Hollywood, you have connections a lot of people don't.
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Plus her Billie's mom already knew how to get a SAG card, look for agents...etc etc.
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It's similar to how parents who went to college can tell you about the application process, help you choose classes in high school, tell you to schedule campus visits, explain about FAFSA/student loans/scholarships, etc. as opposed to someone who is the first person in their family to apply to college and has to seek out this information on their own. Does it guarantee that the former will get into their first choice school? No, but it still gives them an advantage over the latter.
At the bare minimum, having one parent who has worked in Hollywood already gives you a very valuable resource of information. And that's even if they have zero friends, coworkers, and other connections who can do things like get you an agent or into auditions.
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And I know being a nepo baby doesn't guarantee success - I know of a few people who tried to nepobaby themselves into stardom and landed somewhere around the D list, but they're still working in some fashion to keep that SAG insurance active - but it gets you in the door. IDK why people who followed their parents into the industry don't admit that. Dr. Billy over here who grew up with his father Dr. Billy Sr. probably got a leg up by his father letting him shadow him at work, put in a good word for him with the alumni office, paid a hefty donation to the medical school and his undergrad, and gave him a job at the practice when he graduated. It's not just in Hollywood, it's a leg up in any industry. My brother is an EMT because he grew up with my grandfather being a volunteer EMT. I didn't follow anyone in my family's footsteps LMAO I paved my own path (my family are either starving artists or engineers).
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Meanwhile, mom worked in a factory and my father was a petty drug dealer.
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But I got a leg up in other ways. A lot of my student jobs were with people my parents knew. When I moved back to where I grew up, my dad's friend let him know there was a test for a job I wanted. It wasn't common knowledge and I wouldn't have found out otherwise.
Plus a thousand other ways that my schooling, lack of poverty, whiteness etc gave me a leg up. Didn't mean I didn't work hard when I got a foot in the door, just that I got help getting there.
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Hell, my mum worked in television over 15 years ago and if that was my field, I know she could put me into contact with any of the networks. Would it guarantee anything? No, but it would be pretty much the biggest possible advantage one could have.
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Then I remember I'm terrible at dancing and following choreography, which is the bare minimum for even the most talentless nepokid. 🥲 So much for that fantasy!
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But talent is sadly not hereditary, as I have two left feet and no sense of rhythm whatsoever. 🙃
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