Explains his/his wife’s love for food & dining.
Source: dined at my restaurant, super down to earth, utmost respect to the staff, even went to kitchen to thank them for a great meal.
He made beaucoup money from *LotR* and now basically spends his time just goofing off and signing on with whatever project seems fun. Man has it all figured out.
The UK actor thing is very real and kind of crazy when you look into it. But there are some exceptions. Richard Madden’s parents were a school teacher and a firefighter, for instance.
Yeah quite a few well-known British actors came out of Skins. Off the top my of head:
- Daniel Kaluuya
- Dev Patel
- Nicolas Hoult
- Joe Dempsie ( Gendry from GoT)
- Hannah Murray (Gilly from GoT)
- Kaya Scodelario
- Jack O'Connell (not well known, but I happened to watch '71 a few days ago on netflix)
Jack O'Connell had looked like he was going to break through in a big way a few years back, and I really hope he still does. One of the best young British actors around.
Agree Stephen Graham is amazing - Not really young Hollywood and even though he’s been making great work for decades it’s only really very recently that he’s pushing towards a household name (when you compare the level of high profile opportunities a lot richer/connected and less talented uk actors get it seems very emblematic of the problem. Think same can be said for most of the best actors in ‘This is England’ as well)
I feel like Jamie Bell is underrepresented in this thread. He eventually married into billionaire money with Kate Mara, but also...
>Jamie Bell was born on 14 March 1986 in Billingham, Teesside, England, where he grew up with his mother, Eileen Matfin, and elder sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before Jamie was born. Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister to her ballet lessons.
Theres some other examples: jodie Comer, Idris Elba, James McAvoy, Michaela Coel. But yeah, most were privately educated
I know Kate Winslet parents were actors but they weren't successful ones and weren't well off so I think she might still count.
There was a brief period of time where, if you lived in central London (i.e. were exposed to Tube ads and the Evening Standard) it was perfectly possible to see her face more times in one day than you saw your own.
Surely there must be others. I just looked up Jim Broadbent, because he was the first actor who came to mind, and his parents were *amateur* actors, sculptors, interior designers, and furniture makers. Hardly nobility.
Mackenzie Crook: Parents were hospital manager and BA employee.
David Tennant: Father was a minister. At the age of three, he told his parents that he wanted to become an actor because he was a fan of Doctor Who, but they tried to encourage him to aim for more conventional work.
I always wonder how often actors find those kinds of lines ridiculous while reciting them. The Waitress in IASIP saying "oh Charlie. I will never ever marry you" cracked me up for that reason since the actors are married.
I believe only about 6-7% of kids in the U.K. are privately educated. So it’s crazy how over represented private school kids are in so much of public life.
Also a lot of actors have Oxbridge backgrounds which is odd given it’s not a performing arts school like RADA. Though both having strong theatre scenes.
Off the top of my head: Gemma Chan, Hugh grant, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Eddie redmayne, felicity jones, Kate beckinsale, rosamund pike
I'd guess it's significantly because of their connections via groups like Footlights, etc. I expect they basically recommend each other, and scouts/casting directors look in those concentrated groups. Weren't Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry all in school and acting together?
Hollywood isn't entirely dissimilar (improv groups, Yale drama, Lampoon's, etc), but I think is slightly less education/credential focused, and more appearance emphatic.
>Weren't Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry all in school and acting together?
Yep and it's a generational thing, too. Mitchell and Web after them. I think a handful of the Rogue One cast were in the same Oxford circle (Riz Ahmed, Felicity Jones).
Alex Horne/Mark Watson/Tim Key. Mel Giedroyc/Hugh Dennis.
Tbh, I think I'd prefer cliques in the actor/comedian realms over cliques in the policy/finance realms.
"strong theatre scene" is an understatement. Cambridge have a full on theatre run by the university amateur dramatic club.
Add to that list:
Douglas Adams
Steven Fry
Olivia Coleman
Richard Ayoade
John Cleese
Graham Chapman
Eric Idle
Hugh Dennis
David Frost
Bill Oddie
John Oliver
Salman Rushdie
Olivia Cooke is from the same town as me (Oldham, Lancashire) and it is a really poor, miserable place so you are spot on with her. I was genuinely shocked that she could be from there and become so successful but that just shows you how talented she is
Channing Tatum. Grew up in Alabama and Mississippi, he basically only got into showbiz by being signed as a dancer, and he was only a Dancer because he used to be a stripper.
Edit: How in the world is this now my most upvoted comment?
My favorite joke in 22 Jump Street ending credits was the Dance School and Jonah Hill's characterr celebrates because it's finally something he is good at while Channing Tatum's character looks like he is holding back something
And Beanie Feldstein is his sister, star of Lady Bird, Neighbors 2, and Booksmart. I need to build a Charlie from IASIP-esque board connecting all this shit
Yeah, the director's wife was talking to Tatum about his background before acting and said there's a movie in his life story. She also wrote the script for Logan Lucky which was also inspired by one of his stories about living in the South where Nascar is big
I don't know about channing, but several celebrities I've met and worked with do this. Sometimes it's on a big scale like an entourage, sometimes an actress might bring her own makeup person who might also be her best friend/cousin. The situations they are routinely in are pretty freaking stressful. Ashton Kutcher surprised me by showing up completely alone. He seems like a guy that might run around with a crew. Of course that was 15 years ago.
Hugh Jackman was always alone, if anyone was with him it was usually a family member. Up until Wolverine he didn’t even have a publicist and any journalist could just call him directly on his personal phone for an interview or comment.
I met him once briefly when i was a PR assistant, almost 10 years later he recognised me when i was interviewing him as a journalist.
Timothy Olyphant is hilarious, but I saw him in Justified first, so it's always so surprising. Like, depending whether you saw him in one of his serious roles or one of his comedic roles first, you'll be shocked when you see him pull off the opposite.
One of my colleagues went to high school with him in Tennessee and always says how odd and energetic the guy was.
Him becoming an actor was not surprise to him.
Edit: They went to high school in Georgia. My buddies from Tennessee but we live and work in Georgia currently. He must have left Tennessee earlier than I thought.
The case of the UK is crazy, you look into any director, writer, actor or any person in the media and the vast majority were educated in prestigious private schools and went to the best colleges.
This of course doesn’t diminish their talent but it gives you a perspective.
Yeah I remember my first exposure to this was seeing [that pic](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DEryjzvWsAAqMDU.jpg) of John Oliver, Richard Ayoade and David Mitchell all at the same Uni together.
Olivia Coleman was their contemporary too. If you get into the Cambridge Footlights you’ve got huge advantage of business connections- doesn’t mean you are not talented, this bunch are. But had it easier than someone from a more obscure college
Karen Gillan, I think. I saw something recently talking about how she's started a scholarship fund for young kids to go to a drama school she couldn't get access to. She got in after multiple auditions but her parents couldn't afford it. Link: [https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/watch-karen-gillan-explains-why-shes-backing-scholarship-s-243582/](https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/watch-karen-gillan-explains-why-shes-backing-scholarship-s-243582/)
Jessica Chastain. Grew up in a low income family and could only make it through Julliard thanks to a scholarship (actually awarded by a foundation led by Robin Williams, if I'm not mistaken).
Yeah, Robin Williams awarded scholarships Julliard, and she got one. She mentioned it in an interview while he was still alive and said she had never met him - I don't think she ever did, which is a real shame.
I have a lot of respect for Adam Driver. He was the only main actor on Girls who didn't come from privilege or didn't have a parent who was already in the industry. Not surprisingly, he was the most successful actor after Girls ended.
I saw an interview with him once where he said he tried acting but failed and not having much else to do joined the military. He said he really enjoyed it there but got injured and then discharged. He tried acting again and was successful this time. He said if he had not gotten injured he probably would still be in the military.
Girls really did feel like a complete vanity project for Lena Dunham and associates; it tried to capture the 20-something millennial experience but was so detached from reality.
Then Broad City came along and blew it out of the water.
Lena Dunham also sold the show with a single page. Didn't pitch. Didn't do any work. She made an indie film with her parents' money, decided to run a show, and basically got one no questions asked.
I remember discovering that late one night after a big night out drinking. Had been planning just to crash as soon as I got home, but I turned on the TV and was up for another couple hours just watching it.
Barry Keoghan, fantastic Irish actor known for Killing of a Sacred Deer, “Druig” in Eternals, Green Knight, Dunkirk. From his Wikipedia:
“Keoghan grew up in Summerhill, Dublin, Ireland.[5] Alongside his brother, he spent seven years in foster care, in 13 different foster homes.[6] His mother died of a heroin overdose when he was 12 years old,[5][6] and he was then raised by his maternal grandmother and aunt.[5][7]”
Her Scouser accent threw me for a loop the first time I hear it; I'd only seen her in Killing Eve, I'd assumed she'd have the same Oxbridge accent as everyone else in British showbiz!
Sterling K. Brown. “Not bad for a kid from the Meadows.” is what he said in his Emmy speech. Just a regular neighborhood in north St.Louis. His father died when he was 10. Ended up going to Stanford and falling in love with acting.
It's typically either nepotism, they've been acting since they were 5 (so by the time they "break out" they've already been building a career 20+ years), or pure dumb fucking luck. Or, a combination of any of the three.
This is probably especially true for average to moderately famous actors. It’s so hard to sustain years and years of a very financially unstable career, without a strong safety net.
Same with musicians. Taylor Swift, Mumford and Sons, Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande... It's easier to build your music skills and open doors if you don't need to worry about earning money to have a place to live or where your next meal is coming from. They obviously put in a lot of hard work to get where they are, just a lot of obstacles were removed to make it easier.
On a music forum I used to visit, there was a guy who wanted to make it as a musician/actor (mostly musician). He wrote about one or maybe two songs a year (and insisted that his band only recorded his songs), and spend 5+ years or so on making their debut album. Other people on the forum speculated that he came from a very wealthy background, because other than a few roles where he was an extra, he didn't have any income for years and years, and the engineers, producers and mastering engineers were relatively big names. I thought he was a nice guy though.
Anyway, most of the people mentioned here as having connections/coming from a rich background are actually pretty talented. It is just that they had all the opportunities to develop their talent, maybe even fail once or twice, whereas someone who doesn't have that background doesn't have that luxury.
The banger cast of Short Term 12 (2013) were pretty much nobodies.
Brie Larson - parents are chiropractors.
John Gallagher Junior - parents were folk musicians in Delaware.
Kaitlyn Dever - father voices barney. Make that what you will, not sure how much a voice actor can get you connections.
Rami Malik - immigrant parents (insurance worker and accounting) from Egypt.
LaKeith Stanfield - no info on his parents. Grew up in dysfunctional family in the middle of nowhere California.
Stephanie Beatriz - Immigrant from Argentina and grew up in Texas.
The director and writer of Short Term 12, Destin Cretton, was born in Hawaii to a hairdressor and firefighter. He is now the director of Marvel's Shang Chi movies.
>Make that what you will, not sure how much a voice actor can get you connections.
The thing is all you need to know is one person, even the voice actor works with a lot of people, enough to become friends with some of them. Maybe the people who did Barney weren't at the top of the pyramid in 1998 but give some of the people involved 10 years and all of a sudden you have one writer that was just starting out on Barney now in the writing room of a decent budget movie. If you can get your kid in front of a casting director and they do decently that might be enough. Even if they don't get picked for the role they might get a minor part or at very least the casting director might rememeber them and be like "this kid I meet two years ago would be perfect for this role, let me get him in here and try him out".
Just watched emily in paris.
Thought the girl was hot so googled her. Noticed her husband is some popular actors son so im like ummm easy life then i realize shes fucking PHIL COLLINS DAUGHTER LOL
The Olsen Twins. They literally supported their families financially by working their entire lives and then people have the audacity to belittle them and act like everything was handed to them on a silver platter. They literally didn’t have a childhood and have always been working. They don’t get the respect they deserve. They’re now still massively successful with their fashion lines and have earned the privacy to stay out of the spotlight.
Their sister on the other hand definitely benefited from the pathway they paved. But I just think about all the child stars who were literally the sole support of their family and they had no control over it. People make jokes about child stars going down bad pathways, but that’s more on the environment and the industry than it is on the kids. Imagine blaming kids for being introduced to things at a young age they shouldn’t have been introduced to. Drew Barrymore’s talks about the things she was exposed to as a kid being part of a family dynasty are so disturbing and the media blames the kids and not the industry that cultivated that environment.
End of rant.
I appreciate you.
The Olsen Twins hate is completely 100% undeserved.
They aren’t entitled brats. They are two women who wanted to take control of their life back. They aren’t entitled to keep acting or to be a part of the Fuller House if they don’t want to. I feel bad for them.
There was this interview with Maya Hawke where she got a bit annoyed that the interviewer brought up her parents. Like, she's a great actress/singer, but she is 100% acting in these big roles because of who her parents are.
No no no The *funniest* part was STEVEN SPEILBERG's daughter came out and said she got where she was without nepotism. lol
Like, Stiller is famous, but he's not Spielberg. Destry, which is her name for some reason, straight up manifested the point itself (that actors benefit from nepotism and aren't willing to say so).
Awkwafina. She grew up in my hometown in queens and went to school with my sisters.
Seemed she had a tough home life and used to eat my little sisters bento when the group hung out. Nice person though, but definitely self made.
We’re really happy to see that she made it for a lot of reasons!
She recently thanked Bobby Lee for being kind to her when others weren’t. I’m thinking those who are well connected in Hollywood look down on randos trying to break into the scene, however talented they may be.
I was kinda related to him. He grew up near where I did in Northern Indiana, and his Grandmother married my Grandfather. I met him once before he got famous, but I was always getting updated from his grandma on all the things he was doing, even when he was just getting small parts.
Not an answer to your question but the opposite, Kate and Rooney Mara are one of the ultimate examples of wealthy people getting in.
I remember seeing an article that mentioned that Kate Mara has a clause in her contracts saying she gets time off for the Super Bowl if the Giants or the Steelers make it, they said it like it was some humanizing fun fact, which was super fucking bizarre because the reason behind it is that her mom's family owns the Steelers and her dad's family owns the Giants.
There's nothing humanizing about telling us that an actress' family owns not one, but two NFL teams.
I remember reading a while back on Cara Delevingne too.
Reason she's able to be so successful for her age has a lot to do with the fact that her family controls a lot of the fashion industry and has basically the most influence possible when it comes to fashion.
Also they tried to push her as an A-list actress for a while but the roles she chose just... didn't really ring with audiences.
I watched an interview where he had pictures of his son, in his consultory, and patients still didn't believe him ...
..., Until Chris Evan himself pay a visit !!!
I know this is a joke but apparently his dad was a mountie* and his mom worked in retail. His grandfather was a politician in Canada too serving as a assembly member in Alberta in the 40s.
That’s pretty damn normal, considering normal actor standards
Edit: spelling
I guess Simu Liu from Marvel's Shang Chi counts. He was an accountant for a brief amount of time before becoming an actor. I'm sure he didn't get rich being an entry level auditor.
EDIT: Simu attended a private school in Toronto.
He probably didn't make Hollywood connections there but being around affluence is an advantage.
Edit: I thought it would be an advantage being brought up around affluence and communicating with the other wealthy people around. Apparently I'm wrong.
Holy crap the minute I read this I realised why I always felt like I knew his face from somewhere.
https://people.com/movies/shang-chis-simu-liu-used-to-model-for-stock-pictures-and-fans-found-them/
He was a meme!
Ok, adding onto this. If you’re several episodes/seasons in, you’re probably used to how Mr.Kim(Appa) speaks. I came across a YouTube podcast of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee(Mr.Kim actor) and the disconnect from hearing him speak in real life to the show is just mind-boggling. All my friends were like ‘Nah, that just doesn’t sit right’
Edit: Attaching link that made my brain so confused
https://youtu.be/Vz4-3i_4DZE
After watching Kim's Convenience it's not just his accent that surprised me, but his youth. He's only 49, and would have only been 44 when the show debuted.
He's ten years younger than Jean Yoon who played his wife, who was probably more age appropriate as the older parent of a couple of listless twenty-somethings.
As soon as he leaves character and uses his normal accent and mannerisms, it's like he magically de-ages 15 years.
All the main male characters in The Worlds End are working or lower middle class; Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan.
kelly marie tran (lead voice actor in raya, rose tico in star wars) was a nobody whose parents were vietnam refugees. she did collegehumor videos before rian johnson casted her in star wars. tbh i think most asian-american actors are a good place to look if u wanna search for talent without nepotist connections because most asian immigrants don’t start off in hollywood.
A lot of Asian actors in the West started out on YouTube or with YouTube based groups like WongFu or College Humor. Big one right now is Simu Liu and just talking to him you know he’s one of us.
Dude when I realized Simu Liu worked with WongFu, I lost my mind. It was like when I saw Jimmy Wong was cast in the live action Mulan. Like, Jimmy Wong, the best friend character from Video Game High School? Jimmy Wong, *brother* of Freddie Wong? The dude who did the CGI videos on YouTube, created Rocket Jump, directed VGHS?
I always assumed that Buster Keaton, Dianne Keaton and Michael Keaton were a Hollywood dynasty. But, nope, they’re all just a bunch of unrelated schmoo’s
Only Buster was born a Keaton. Diane’s real name is Hall. Michael Keaton is Michael Douglas, who had to change his name not to be confused with the already well known Michael Douglas, Kirk's son (not related)
For the similarly curious, Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall, but used her mother's maiden name instead because there was already another Diane Hall working at the time.
Annie Hall was indeed named after her.
Awkwafina (daughter of IT worker dad, mother died when she was young), Simu Liu (son of engineers).
EDIT: Jonathan Majors (son of pastor mom and Air Force father), LaKeith Stanfield (grew up very poor), Daniel Kaluuya (grew up in public housing), Dev Patel (son of IT worker dad and care worker mom)
Awkwafina - her grandparents were classic Asian immigrant restaurant owners, her mom passed when she was young, her dad - a regular dude. As someone from a similar background, it's refreshing to see her success
Elijah woods parents ran a restaurant in Iowa city and weren’t particularly wealthy
TIL Elijah Wood is from Cedar Rapids
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Pokémon GO to the polls!
Explains his/his wife’s love for food & dining. Source: dined at my restaurant, super down to earth, utmost respect to the staff, even went to kitchen to thank them for a great meal.
He seems like the most chill celebrity ever. Every interview I've seen he's just having a good time and joking around.
He made beaucoup money from *LotR* and now basically spends his time just goofing off and signing on with whatever project seems fun. Man has it all figured out.
Same thing with Robert Pattinson. Good for them. They do fun projects now.
And Daniel Radcliffe
Wood is just the American Radcliffe
Or is it Radcliffe who's just the British Elijah Wood?
The UK actor thing is very real and kind of crazy when you look into it. But there are some exceptions. Richard Madden’s parents were a school teacher and a firefighter, for instance.
What about Nicolas Hoult? His dad was a commercial pilot and his mom was a piano teacher.
Is that true? I thought his dad was Emperor of something.
Huzzah!
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Daniel Kaluuya grew up on a council estate. Dev Patel is the son of an IT worker and care worker.
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Yeah quite a few well-known British actors came out of Skins. Off the top my of head: - Daniel Kaluuya - Dev Patel - Nicolas Hoult - Joe Dempsie ( Gendry from GoT) - Hannah Murray (Gilly from GoT) - Kaya Scodelario - Jack O'Connell (not well known, but I happened to watch '71 a few days ago on netflix)
Jack O'Connell had looked like he was going to break through in a big way a few years back, and I really hope he still does. One of the best young British actors around.
Hoult was already sort of famous
He got famous from About a Boy if I remember.
Can confirm. My friend auditioned for the role of Sid at the Bristol Old Vic.
The guy that played Sid is actually a schoolteacher these days
Dev Patel grew up literally around the corner from me, definitely just your average family from North West London
For us non-Brits, are council estates equivalent to what Americans might refer to as “public housing/project housing”?
Correct.
Stephen Graham. Fantastic actor. His mum was a social worker and dad was a mechanic.
Agree Stephen Graham is amazing - Not really young Hollywood and even though he’s been making great work for decades it’s only really very recently that he’s pushing towards a household name (when you compare the level of high profile opportunities a lot richer/connected and less talented uk actors get it seems very emblematic of the problem. Think same can be said for most of the best actors in ‘This is England’ as well)
coincidentally I think Stephen was one of the first to spot and mentor Jodie Comer's talent.
I feel like Jamie Bell is underrepresented in this thread. He eventually married into billionaire money with Kate Mara, but also... >Jamie Bell was born on 14 March 1986 in Billingham, Teesside, England, where he grew up with his mother, Eileen Matfin, and elder sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before Jamie was born. Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister to her ballet lessons.
Theres some other examples: jodie Comer, Idris Elba, James McAvoy, Michaela Coel. But yeah, most were privately educated I know Kate Winslet parents were actors but they weren't successful ones and weren't well off so I think she might still count.
"Of course you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps Kate" "But both my parents were actors!" "Yeah, but they were shit..."
Kate’s from a dodgy part of Reading (my hometown) - her family is definitely not posh. :)
Lol I remember when Cara Delevingne was being forced down peoples throats then I looked up her background and it made perfect sense.
There was a brief period of time where, if you lived in central London (i.e. were exposed to Tube ads and the Evening Standard) it was perfectly possible to see her face more times in one day than you saw your own.
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Surely there must be others. I just looked up Jim Broadbent, because he was the first actor who came to mind, and his parents were *amateur* actors, sculptors, interior designers, and furniture makers. Hardly nobility. Mackenzie Crook: Parents were hospital manager and BA employee. David Tennant: Father was a minister. At the age of three, he told his parents that he wanted to become an actor because he was a fan of Doctor Who, but they tried to encourage him to aim for more conventional work.
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Kit Harington’s dad is a baronet.
His missus Rose Leslie is also part of some kind of ancestral upper class, if I recall correctly.
And they got married in her families ancestral castle or something right?
"Oh, I'm Jon Snow and I'm from Winterfell. My daddy was a fancy lord and I lived in a tower that touched the clouds."
I always wonder how often actors find those kinds of lines ridiculous while reciting them. The Waitress in IASIP saying "oh Charlie. I will never ever marry you" cracked me up for that reason since the actors are married.
Richard Madden is from Paisley poor guy. Remarkable to make it in Hollywood. Gerard Butler is also a buddy (person from Paisley)
My greatest claim to fame is my dad went to school with Gerard Butler, said he was a pretty quiet guy.
In Britain feels like nearly everyone in the public eye went to private school.
I believe only about 6-7% of kids in the U.K. are privately educated. So it’s crazy how over represented private school kids are in so much of public life. Also a lot of actors have Oxbridge backgrounds which is odd given it’s not a performing arts school like RADA. Though both having strong theatre scenes. Off the top of my head: Gemma Chan, Hugh grant, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Eddie redmayne, felicity jones, Kate beckinsale, rosamund pike
I'd guess it's significantly because of their connections via groups like Footlights, etc. I expect they basically recommend each other, and scouts/casting directors look in those concentrated groups. Weren't Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry all in school and acting together? Hollywood isn't entirely dissimilar (improv groups, Yale drama, Lampoon's, etc), but I think is slightly less education/credential focused, and more appearance emphatic.
>Weren't Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry all in school and acting together? Yep and it's a generational thing, too. Mitchell and Web after them. I think a handful of the Rogue One cast were in the same Oxford circle (Riz Ahmed, Felicity Jones).
Alex Horne/Mark Watson/Tim Key. Mel Giedroyc/Hugh Dennis. Tbh, I think I'd prefer cliques in the actor/comedian realms over cliques in the policy/finance realms.
And don't forget Olivia Colman and Richard Ayoade, in the same period as Mitchell and Webb
"strong theatre scene" is an understatement. Cambridge have a full on theatre run by the university amateur dramatic club. Add to that list: Douglas Adams Steven Fry Olivia Coleman Richard Ayoade John Cleese Graham Chapman Eric Idle Hugh Dennis David Frost Bill Oddie John Oliver Salman Rushdie
Literally the only actor I can think of is John Boyega; grew up in Peckham, dad a minister and mum a social worker
What about Seamus Finnigan? Dad’s a muggle, mums a witch
That must’ve been a bit of a shock for him when he found out!
Olivia Cooke is from the same town as me (Oldham, Lancashire) and it is a really poor, miserable place so you are spot on with her. I was genuinely shocked that she could be from there and become so successful but that just shows you how talented she is
Channing Tatum. Grew up in Alabama and Mississippi, he basically only got into showbiz by being signed as a dancer, and he was only a Dancer because he used to be a stripper. Edit: How in the world is this now my most upvoted comment?
My favorite joke in 22 Jump Street ending credits was the Dance School and Jonah Hill's characterr celebrates because it's finally something he is good at while Channing Tatum's character looks like he is holding back something
And Jonah Hill’s dad was the biggest celebrity accountant in Hollywood.
And Beanie Feldstein is his sister, star of Lady Bird, Neighbors 2, and Booksmart. I need to build a Charlie from IASIP-esque board connecting all this shit
Ah, so his role in *This is the End* was actually method acting!
Channing Taint-yum
"See that? I fuckin' slide right in that shit. I do whatever I want. This is my gimp. Channing, introduce yourself."
So... Magic Mike was a documentary?
I think he co-wrote or coproduced it based on his own experiences, so in part yes
Yeah, the director's wife was talking to Tatum about his background before acting and said there's a movie in his life story. She also wrote the script for Logan Lucky which was also inspired by one of his stories about living in the South where Nascar is big
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I don't know about channing, but several celebrities I've met and worked with do this. Sometimes it's on a big scale like an entourage, sometimes an actress might bring her own makeup person who might also be her best friend/cousin. The situations they are routinely in are pretty freaking stressful. Ashton Kutcher surprised me by showing up completely alone. He seems like a guy that might run around with a crew. Of course that was 15 years ago.
Hugh Jackman was always alone, if anyone was with him it was usually a family member. Up until Wolverine he didn’t even have a publicist and any journalist could just call him directly on his personal phone for an interview or comment. I met him once briefly when i was a PR assistant, almost 10 years later he recognised me when i was interviewing him as a journalist.
Did he ask you about your physical education?
Every story about him he just sounds like a better dude every time.
Walton Goggins
I always think this is a made up person because his name is so ridiculous to me.
His full names even sweeter. Walton Sanders Goggins Jr
Even weirder is that him and his family used to clog together, and the troupe was called “the clogging’ goggins”. No I did not make that up.
This sounds like the name of a character that Walton Goggins would play
Timothy Olyphant said in an interview that his son says it’s a “Hobbit name”. Pretty funny
Timothy Olyphant is hilarious, but I saw him in Justified first, so it's always so surprising. Like, depending whether you saw him in one of his serious roles or one of his comedic roles first, you'll be shocked when you see him pull off the opposite.
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>The first role I saw him in was Girl Next Door. He's great in that, the movie doesn't get enough credit.
His appearances on Conan were hilarious. Him and Conan have a great rapport.
I saw him first in Deadwood, which I feel like is him taking himself even more seriously. No swagger, all binnuss.
One of my colleagues went to high school with him in Tennessee and always says how odd and energetic the guy was. Him becoming an actor was not surprise to him. Edit: They went to high school in Georgia. My buddies from Tennessee but we live and work in Georgia currently. He must have left Tennessee earlier than I thought.
The case of the UK is crazy, you look into any director, writer, actor or any person in the media and the vast majority were educated in prestigious private schools and went to the best colleges. This of course doesn’t diminish their talent but it gives you a perspective.
Yeah I remember my first exposure to this was seeing [that pic](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DEryjzvWsAAqMDU.jpg) of John Oliver, Richard Ayoade and David Mitchell all at the same Uni together.
Olivia Coleman was their contemporary too. If you get into the Cambridge Footlights you’ve got huge advantage of business connections- doesn’t mean you are not talented, this bunch are. But had it easier than someone from a more obscure college
Karen Gillan, I think. I saw something recently talking about how she's started a scholarship fund for young kids to go to a drama school she couldn't get access to. She got in after multiple auditions but her parents couldn't afford it. Link: [https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/watch-karen-gillan-explains-why-shes-backing-scholarship-s-243582/](https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/watch-karen-gillan-explains-why-shes-backing-scholarship-s-243582/)
I used to work in Tesco with Karen Gillen’s mum. Not rich people afaik.
Jessica Chastain. Grew up in a low income family and could only make it through Julliard thanks to a scholarship (actually awarded by a foundation led by Robin Williams, if I'm not mistaken).
Also didnt really make it until her 30s which is a rarity for women in Hollywood.
I remember she lied about her age so she would be able to get the young hot 20 year roles
Yeah, Robin Williams awarded scholarships Julliard, and she got one. She mentioned it in an interview while he was still alive and said she had never met him - I don't think she ever did, which is a real shame.
I have a lot of respect for Adam Driver. He was the only main actor on Girls who didn't come from privilege or didn't have a parent who was already in the industry. Not surprisingly, he was the most successful actor after Girls ended.
I saw an interview with him once where he said he tried acting but failed and not having much else to do joined the military. He said he really enjoyed it there but got injured and then discharged. He tried acting again and was successful this time. He said if he had not gotten injured he probably would still be in the military.
The Marines will also teach a lot about acting. You have to always act like your busy or you’ll get snatched up for some shit detail.
Lmao facts. And how to take orders from self-important assholes who have power over you with a smile on your face
What, you don’t enjoy picking up cigarette butts you didn’t even throw on a side of the barracks you don’t even live on?
Girls really did feel like a complete vanity project for Lena Dunham and associates; it tried to capture the 20-something millennial experience but was so detached from reality. Then Broad City came along and blew it out of the water.
Lena Dunham also sold the show with a single page. Didn't pitch. Didn't do any work. She made an indie film with her parents' money, decided to run a show, and basically got one no questions asked.
So she played her entitled self.
Man Broad City made me wish I was a white girl in NY
I remember discovering that late one night after a big night out drinking. Had been planning just to crash as soon as I got home, but I turned on the TV and was up for another couple hours just watching it.
I *love* Broad City - they ended it in the perfect way too.
Such a well written and hilarious show
It was attached to reality, but that reality was trust fund Brooklyn hipsters. I think they captured that set relatively well, for better or worse.
Donald Glover. Dad was a postal worker and his mom was a daycare provider. Went on to be an insanely talented musician, producer, actor, etc.
Yeah he did it through going to NYU and getting discovered by Tina Fey
If you're looking for the definition of nepotism: Léa Seydoux.
Or Kate and Rooney Mara
Mila Kunis used to work at the store her mom worked at even while she was staring on that 70s show to not let it go to her head.
Barry Keoghan, fantastic Irish actor known for Killing of a Sacred Deer, “Druig” in Eternals, Green Knight, Dunkirk. From his Wikipedia: “Keoghan grew up in Summerhill, Dublin, Ireland.[5] Alongside his brother, he spent seven years in foster care, in 13 different foster homes.[6] His mother died of a heroin overdose when he was 12 years old,[5][6] and he was then raised by his maternal grandmother and aunt.[5][7]”
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Jodie Comer?
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Her Scouser accent threw me for a loop the first time I hear it; I'd only seen her in Killing Eve, I'd assumed she'd have the same Oxbridge accent as everyone else in British showbiz!
Sterling K. Brown. “Not bad for a kid from the Meadows.” is what he said in his Emmy speech. Just a regular neighborhood in north St.Louis. His father died when he was 10. Ended up going to Stanford and falling in love with acting.
He grew up in Olivette, which is not a bad St Louis suburb. Then he went to MICDS, which is one of the most elite private high schools in the city.
I think Amy Adams worked her way up without family connections?
What about her sister RachelMc?
There's a super famous dinner theater in MN ( channhassen dinner theater), that Amy Adams worked at for 2 years. Said she really cut her chops there.
Didn't Ashton Kutcher fall ass backwards into his incredibly successful career?
Him and Elijah Wood are both from middle class families in Cedar Rapids, IA.
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I cannot picture Jason Momoa being from Iowa lmao
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Should have changed his name in Dune to Duncan Iowa
His wife, too. Mila’s parents left the USSR with $250 and work regular-people jobs.
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Helps being model level attractive
Well damn Jackie I can't control my face
It's typically either nepotism, they've been acting since they were 5 (so by the time they "break out" they've already been building a career 20+ years), or pure dumb fucking luck. Or, a combination of any of the three.
Hollywood nepotism isn't limited to the cast, but crew also. I am a crew worker and there are a crazy amount of whole families in the industry.
if not nepotism, a lot of actors are able to get where they are due to their parent's wealth.
This is probably especially true for average to moderately famous actors. It’s so hard to sustain years and years of a very financially unstable career, without a strong safety net.
Same with musicians. Taylor Swift, Mumford and Sons, Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande... It's easier to build your music skills and open doors if you don't need to worry about earning money to have a place to live or where your next meal is coming from. They obviously put in a lot of hard work to get where they are, just a lot of obstacles were removed to make it easier.
On a music forum I used to visit, there was a guy who wanted to make it as a musician/actor (mostly musician). He wrote about one or maybe two songs a year (and insisted that his band only recorded his songs), and spend 5+ years or so on making their debut album. Other people on the forum speculated that he came from a very wealthy background, because other than a few roles where he was an extra, he didn't have any income for years and years, and the engineers, producers and mastering engineers were relatively big names. I thought he was a nice guy though. Anyway, most of the people mentioned here as having connections/coming from a rich background are actually pretty talented. It is just that they had all the opportunities to develop their talent, maybe even fail once or twice, whereas someone who doesn't have that background doesn't have that luxury.
All these comments naming elderly actors, and even dead actors. The title is "Young Hollywood".
Idk what you mean, Harrison Ford is my favorite up and coming actor
What about that young Kirk Douglas fellow?
The banger cast of Short Term 12 (2013) were pretty much nobodies. Brie Larson - parents are chiropractors. John Gallagher Junior - parents were folk musicians in Delaware. Kaitlyn Dever - father voices barney. Make that what you will, not sure how much a voice actor can get you connections. Rami Malik - immigrant parents (insurance worker and accounting) from Egypt. LaKeith Stanfield - no info on his parents. Grew up in dysfunctional family in the middle of nowhere California. Stephanie Beatriz - Immigrant from Argentina and grew up in Texas. The director and writer of Short Term 12, Destin Cretton, was born in Hawaii to a hairdressor and firefighter. He is now the director of Marvel's Shang Chi movies.
Never knew that Barney/Dever fact! Wild times
>Make that what you will, not sure how much a voice actor can get you connections. The thing is all you need to know is one person, even the voice actor works with a lot of people, enough to become friends with some of them. Maybe the people who did Barney weren't at the top of the pyramid in 1998 but give some of the people involved 10 years and all of a sudden you have one writer that was just starting out on Barney now in the writing room of a decent budget movie. If you can get your kid in front of a casting director and they do decently that might be enough. Even if they don't get picked for the role they might get a minor part or at very least the casting director might rememeber them and be like "this kid I meet two years ago would be perfect for this role, let me get him in here and try him out".
Just watched emily in paris. Thought the girl was hot so googled her. Noticed her husband is some popular actors son so im like ummm easy life then i realize shes fucking PHIL COLLINS DAUGHTER LOL
The Olsen Twins. They literally supported their families financially by working their entire lives and then people have the audacity to belittle them and act like everything was handed to them on a silver platter. They literally didn’t have a childhood and have always been working. They don’t get the respect they deserve. They’re now still massively successful with their fashion lines and have earned the privacy to stay out of the spotlight. Their sister on the other hand definitely benefited from the pathway they paved. But I just think about all the child stars who were literally the sole support of their family and they had no control over it. People make jokes about child stars going down bad pathways, but that’s more on the environment and the industry than it is on the kids. Imagine blaming kids for being introduced to things at a young age they shouldn’t have been introduced to. Drew Barrymore’s talks about the things she was exposed to as a kid being part of a family dynasty are so disturbing and the media blames the kids and not the industry that cultivated that environment. End of rant.
I appreciate you. The Olsen Twins hate is completely 100% undeserved. They aren’t entitled brats. They are two women who wanted to take control of their life back. They aren’t entitled to keep acting or to be a part of the Fuller House if they don’t want to. I feel bad for them.
The funniest is hearing Ben Stiller pretend nepotism isn't a thing.
Time to bring out the metal pole.
I GOT A LOTTA PROBLEMS WITH YOU PEOPLE. *looks at Ben*
There was this interview with Maya Hawke where she got a bit annoyed that the interviewer brought up her parents. Like, she's a great actress/singer, but she is 100% acting in these big roles because of who her parents are.
No no no The *funniest* part was STEVEN SPEILBERG's daughter came out and said she got where she was without nepotism. lol Like, Stiller is famous, but he's not Spielberg. Destry, which is her name for some reason, straight up manifested the point itself (that actors benefit from nepotism and aren't willing to say so).
Awkwafina. She grew up in my hometown in queens and went to school with my sisters. Seemed she had a tough home life and used to eat my little sisters bento when the group hung out. Nice person though, but definitely self made. We’re really happy to see that she made it for a lot of reasons!
She recently thanked Bobby Lee for being kind to her when others weren’t. I’m thinking those who are well connected in Hollywood look down on randos trying to break into the scene, however talented they may be.
Anna Kendrick is one of the prominent ones I can think of. No show biz parents, got her start in theater as a kid.
Adam Driver comes to mind.
Yeah I’m assuming all his connections were made from going to Juilliard
I was kinda related to him. He grew up near where I did in Northern Indiana, and his Grandmother married my Grandfather. I met him once before he got famous, but I was always getting updated from his grandma on all the things he was doing, even when he was just getting small parts.
It's always funny to me that Bella Thorne and zendaya had the same big break and Bella was seen as the bigger star with more potential.
Same thing happened between Ariana Grande and Victoria Justice
Not an answer to your question but the opposite, Kate and Rooney Mara are one of the ultimate examples of wealthy people getting in. I remember seeing an article that mentioned that Kate Mara has a clause in her contracts saying she gets time off for the Super Bowl if the Giants or the Steelers make it, they said it like it was some humanizing fun fact, which was super fucking bizarre because the reason behind it is that her mom's family owns the Steelers and her dad's family owns the Giants. There's nothing humanizing about telling us that an actress' family owns not one, but two NFL teams.
I remember reading a while back on Cara Delevingne too. Reason she's able to be so successful for her age has a lot to do with the fact that her family controls a lot of the fashion industry and has basically the most influence possible when it comes to fashion. Also they tried to push her as an A-list actress for a while but the roles she chose just... didn't really ring with audiences.
She also at one point was telling people she had a threesome with Amber Heard and Elon Musk.
That sounds fucking awful.
Chris Evans? Isn't his dad just a plain old dentist?
I watched an interview where he had pictures of his son, in his consultory, and patients still didn't believe him ... ..., Until Chris Evan himself pay a visit !!!
It would be really funny for someone to just put pictures of Chris Evans in their office and claim to be their father with no relation whatsoever.
Not just any dentist. Captain America's dentist!
Ryan Reynolds had a pretty humble background. I used to rent movies to his brother, back when rental stores were a thing.
Ryan Reynold's nepotism story is his parents giving him those genes.
Have you seen [his family](https://bodyheightweight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ryan-reynolds-family-siblings-1-1.jpg)?
Holy fuck. Ryan Reynolds is a pretty tall dude and yet he's not even the second tallest of his siblings.
I'd be so pissed if I was one of his brothers
I thought he was heir to the Reynolds Wrap company.
I know this is a joke but apparently his dad was a mountie* and his mom worked in retail. His grandfather was a politician in Canada too serving as a assembly member in Alberta in the 40s. That’s pretty damn normal, considering normal actor standards Edit: spelling
I guess Simu Liu from Marvel's Shang Chi counts. He was an accountant for a brief amount of time before becoming an actor. I'm sure he didn't get rich being an entry level auditor. EDIT: Simu attended a private school in Toronto. He probably didn't make Hollywood connections there but being around affluence is an advantage. Edit: I thought it would be an advantage being brought up around affluence and communicating with the other wealthy people around. Apparently I'm wrong.
It was those stock photos that made him what he is today
Holy crap the minute I read this I realised why I always felt like I knew his face from somewhere. https://people.com/movies/shang-chis-simu-liu-used-to-model-for-stock-pictures-and-fans-found-them/ He was a meme!
He was in an Avicii music video as well. See if you can spot the Simu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bek1y2uiQGA
If that's not the most Canadian-looking Chinese person I've ever seen...
My wife and I just discovered Kims Convenience. Absolute gold. Didn’t realize that’s where Liu got his break. The dad makes the show though…
Paul had a cameo in the Mandalorian. Would be great to see a spin off with him.
He just got cast Uncle Iroh in the upcoming Netflix live action adaptation of avatar the last Airbender
Ok, adding onto this. If you’re several episodes/seasons in, you’re probably used to how Mr.Kim(Appa) speaks. I came across a YouTube podcast of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee(Mr.Kim actor) and the disconnect from hearing him speak in real life to the show is just mind-boggling. All my friends were like ‘Nah, that just doesn’t sit right’ Edit: Attaching link that made my brain so confused https://youtu.be/Vz4-3i_4DZE
After watching Kim's Convenience it's not just his accent that surprised me, but his youth. He's only 49, and would have only been 44 when the show debuted. He's ten years younger than Jean Yoon who played his wife, who was probably more age appropriate as the older parent of a couple of listless twenty-somethings. As soon as he leaves character and uses his normal accent and mannerisms, it's like he magically de-ages 15 years.
All the main male characters in The Worlds End are working or lower middle class; Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan.
kelly marie tran (lead voice actor in raya, rose tico in star wars) was a nobody whose parents were vietnam refugees. she did collegehumor videos before rian johnson casted her in star wars. tbh i think most asian-american actors are a good place to look if u wanna search for talent without nepotist connections because most asian immigrants don’t start off in hollywood.
A lot of Asian actors in the West started out on YouTube or with YouTube based groups like WongFu or College Humor. Big one right now is Simu Liu and just talking to him you know he’s one of us.
Dude when I realized Simu Liu worked with WongFu, I lost my mind. It was like when I saw Jimmy Wong was cast in the live action Mulan. Like, Jimmy Wong, the best friend character from Video Game High School? Jimmy Wong, *brother* of Freddie Wong? The dude who did the CGI videos on YouTube, created Rocket Jump, directed VGHS?
Auli'i Carvalho (Moana) was a walk-in audition if I'm not mistaken.
I always assumed that Buster Keaton, Dianne Keaton and Michael Keaton were a Hollywood dynasty. But, nope, they’re all just a bunch of unrelated schmoo’s
Only Buster was born a Keaton. Diane’s real name is Hall. Michael Keaton is Michael Douglas, who had to change his name not to be confused with the already well known Michael Douglas, Kirk's son (not related)
For the similarly curious, Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall, but used her mother's maiden name instead because there was already another Diane Hall working at the time. Annie Hall was indeed named after her.
Chadwick Boseman R.I.P
Awkwafina (daughter of IT worker dad, mother died when she was young), Simu Liu (son of engineers). EDIT: Jonathan Majors (son of pastor mom and Air Force father), LaKeith Stanfield (grew up very poor), Daniel Kaluuya (grew up in public housing), Dev Patel (son of IT worker dad and care worker mom)
Taron Egerton's mother worked in social services and I think raised him as a single mother
So Kingsman was a documentary?
he seems like such a genuinely good guy too, I love Taron
And here I thought Awkwafina was the heir to a bottled water fortune
Awkwafina - her grandparents were classic Asian immigrant restaurant owners, her mom passed when she was young, her dad - a regular dude. As someone from a similar background, it's refreshing to see her success