Here Are 26 Times Actors And Directors Used Their Own Family In Their Movies And TV Shows

1 year ago 6

Is it cute or is it nepotism – you decide.

1. Remember the two kids who hand Spider-Man back his mask on the train in Spider-Man 2? Those are Tobey Maguire's real life half-brothers!

2. Director Judd Apatow cast his two daughters, Maude and Iris, in his 2012 movie, This Is 40. They starred as the daughters of Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd's characters. The former is also their real life mum (and Apatow's wife).

3. If the poolside bartender in 1993's Mrs. Doubtfire looks somehow familiar to you, that might be because he's played by Robert Todd Williams, Robin Williams' older brother.

4. In the TV series Master of None, actor and show creator Aziz Ansari had his real life parent's portray his character's on-screen parents.

5. In Forrest Gump, the girl on the bus who refuses to let Forrest sit next to her is played by Elizabeth Hanks, AKA the daughter of Tom Hanks.

6. Angelina Jolie's daughter, Vivienne, was cast as young Aurora in Maleficent. This was partly because every other child they tried to shoot with was so terrified of Jolie in costume that they wouldn't approach her. Vivienne, however, was unfazed.

7. Jolie and Brad Pitt's child, Shiloh, also made an on-screen appearance with her dad. She appeared in Pitt's film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button when she was a baby.

8. In exchange for doing 1993's Groundhog Day, Bill Murray asked for his brother to get a part. He plays the mayor.

9. Another relative of Murray can be seen in Moonrise Kingdom. A khaki scout is played by Bill's real life son, Cooper Murray.

10. Samwise Gamgee's daughter in the final Lord of the Rings film is played by Sean Astin's real daughter.

11. Another Lord of the Rings family connection can be found in the second movie. One of the Rohan refugees is played by Hannah Wood, the sister of Elijah Wood.

12. In 2004's Elf, Will Ferrell's brother, Patrick Ferrell, plays one of the security guards who escorts Buddy out of the Empire State Building.

13. In the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith starred as a down on his luck salesman alongside his real life son, Jaden.

14. And just a year later, Smith's daughter, Willow, appeared in his film I Am Legend as his on-screen daughter.

15. Two of Love Actually director Richard Curtis's children can be seen in the film. They both appear in the play at the end. His daughter is one of the lobsters, and his son is the boy in the Spider-Man make up.

16. Rory Nolan, one of the children of The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan, can be seen in the film on the school bus on the bridge. Nolan also named the working title of the movie – Magnus Rex – after another of his sons.

17. Young Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is played by actor Ralph Fiennes' nephew, Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

18. Watch closely during 2004's The Terminal, and you'll see Steven Spielberg's daughter Sasha appear as the girl with the suitcase that Viktor (played by Tom Hanks) tries to help.

19. In Grease, the waitress who says, "oh, there's Danny and Sandy" while watching the televised school dance is played by Ellen Travolta, the sister of actor John Travolta.

20. Another of Travolta's sisters, Ann, and his mother, Helen, also appeared in the first the five minutes of Saturday Night Fever. Ann plays the pizzeria worker who takes Tony's order on his way to work, and Helen plays the customer he gives a "discount" to at the paint store.

21. Speaking of mums, both Simon Pegg's and Edgar Wright's mothers made appearances in Hot Fuzz as the Village of the Year judges.

22. Billy Crystal's on-screen daughter in 1991's City Clickers was played by his real life daughter, Lindsay. And that little boy on the left? None other than a young Jake Gyllenhaal!

23. The director of Ghostbusters II, Ivan Reitman, cast his daughter Catherine in the film. She appeared briefly in a laboratory scene.

24. Although now a star in his own right, you can see John David Washington in a very early film appearance in Malcolm X, which stars his father, Denzel Washington. He's the first child who stands up and says, "I am Malcolm X!"

25. Morgan Freeman's son, Alfonso, appears as a fingerprint technician in his 1997 film, Se7en.

26. And finally, both Stanley Kubrick's daughter and grandson can be spotted in Eyes Wide Shut. A scene at the doctor's office features both Katerina Kubrick and her son.

Did we miss any out? Let us know in the comments below!

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