Page 15 | Which actor/actress were you surprised to discover is hugely connected?

mumofoneAloneandwell · 2026-05-04T14:00:55+00:00

Kate Hudson - my god i had no idea her mum is Goldie Hawn Just finished season 2 of Running Point (really good)

IcedPurple · 04/05/2026 16:17

Arsewype · 04/05/2026 16:13

Similar to Colin Farrell then, who went to some posho private school in Clontarf.

I had to laugh when he was made out to be some hardcore guy because he drank and smoked - he went to fancy school with the sons of politicians, so not exactly from the mean streets of Dublin.

Show quote history

A bit like Tom Hardy. He often plays 'hard man' roles but came from an arty background and was privately educated.

Vincent Cassel is a French equivalent. He made his name playing 'lower class' characters but he came from a very wealthy Parisian background, the son of a very famous French actor.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 04/05/2026 16:16

You can call it nepotism or you can call it a fairly natural development. If you grow up in a world where your parents and lots of family members and friends all do the same thing, you learn a lot about it from a very early age. It's natural that many youngsters give the family business a go, and some of them make a go of it.

Worked pretty well for Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Going back to acting, Sir John Gielgud came from a theatrical family.

Daisy Ridley is the great-niece of Arnold Ridley, Private Godfrey in Dad's Army but also a well-known playwright.

igelkott2026 · 04/05/2026 16:16

Recklessismymiddlename · 04/05/2026 16:12

David tennant is Peter Davisons son in law

He was wildly successful before that though, so it doesn't count in quite the same way. In fact he was famously turned down for roles in Taggart - every Scottish actor was in Taggart at some point ;)

Sartre · 04/05/2026 16:15

GingerBeverage · 04/05/2026 15:55

😂 4 kids through private school, at least one parent was doing well enough…

Show quote history

Looked his wife up, she has a successful photography business so combined with his minor TV / radio appearances and the comedy, probably enough to be comfortable. Maybe both from money too.

Bellasmellsofwee · 04/05/2026 16:15

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 04/05/2026 15:55

That's not nepotism, though. That's groups of people or pairs of people who can all act and/or write and are all on the same wavelength, so work well together.

See also: League of Gentlemen, Fry & Laurie, Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Young Ones, the group behind Horrible Histories and Ghosts ...

Show quote history

Yes, but what they all have in common is the privilege of being able to go to good universities, have the time to be in the societies and make connections.

My path was different and those sort of closed groups pushed me out. I didn’t have the privilege of doing that - I had to work two jobs from the age of 16. That’s what I mean.

Spirallingdownwards · 04/05/2026 16:14

TellingBone · 04/05/2026 16:03

Big Mo's stage name, Laila Morse, was suggested to her by Isabella Rossellini, daughter of Ingrid Bergman, who was dating her brother Gary Oldman at the time. It's an anagram of 'Mia Sorella' - my sister.

Show quote history

Love this

IcedPurple · 04/05/2026 16:14

GenialHarrietGrouty · 04/05/2026 16:09

Or could it be that certain talents like ability to act run in families?

Show quote history

You really think the ability to pretend to be someone else is genetic?

The reality is that for every actor who lands a great role, there are any number of others who could have played that role equally well. Being well connected and/or from a wealthy background gives you a massive edge in a highly competitive field.

Original poster

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 16:14

BleedinglyObvious · 04/05/2026 16:11

It's not nepotism.

Nepotism is if they're giving jobs to relatives or fiends.

An agent helps you find work not gives you work.

Show quote history

But surely he is finding his son work using his connections

And he is always on tv with him

OP posts:

Arsewype · 04/05/2026 16:13

IcedPurple · 04/05/2026 15:46

Andrew Scott isn't from a 'dynasty' but attended one of the most expensive private schools in Dublin. So kind of the Irish equivalent of the public school gang - Hiddleston, Cumberbatch, Lewis et al - who are so prevalent in British acting elites.

Paul Mescal is from a pretty ordinary background as far as I know.

Show quote history

Similar to Colin Farrell then, who went to some posho private school in Clontarf.

I had to laugh when he was made out to be some hardcore guy because he drank and smoked - he went to fancy school with the sons of politicians, so not exactly from the mean streets of Dublin.

BleedinglyObvious · 04/05/2026 16:13

Recklessismymiddlename · 04/05/2026 16:12

David tennant is Peter Davisons son in law

He wasn't when he started. Georgia Moffatt had two well-known actor parents.

OldGothsFadeToGrey · 04/05/2026 16:12

Newsenmum · 04/05/2026 15:50

Who is dan radcliffe connected to?

Show quote history

His mum is a casting agent - he got his first role through one of his mum’s friends.

His dad is friends with David Heyman, who produced Harry Potter. Heyman’s family bumped into the Radcliffe family at a theatre and that led to DR auditioning for Harry Potter. Heyman convinced DR’s parents to let him audition for Harry Potter following that meeting.

CoffeeCantata · 04/05/2026 16:12

That Emerald Fennel woman who recently made an unforgivable travesty of Wuthering Heights. A crime against literature.

I then read that she played Camilla in The Crown - and I thought she was awful in that. It may not have been her fault, it may have been as she was directed, but someone got Camilla very, very wrong.

She's the daughter of the jewellery designer Theo Fennel. I be doors were opened for her.

Recklessismymiddlename · 04/05/2026 16:12

David tennant is Peter Davisons son in law

BleedinglyObvious · 04/05/2026 16:11

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 16:06

That nepotism is the most shameless I have ever seen 😄😄😄

I kind of have to respect it, its honest if nothing else

Show quote history

It's not nepotism.

Nepotism is if they're giving jobs to relatives or fiends.

An agent helps you find work not gives you work.

HotChocolateBubbleBath · 04/05/2026 16:11

Not just the actors. Look up Ridley Scott and his 3 children.

Arsewype · 04/05/2026 16:10

I remeber reading that Jonah Hill’s dad was some bigwig entertainment accountant/ manager to the stars…which made sense as he’s an untalented gobshite, so I often wondered how he got a break.

GenialHarrietGrouty · 04/05/2026 16:09

StephensLass1977 · 04/05/2026 15:44

Yes, it's called being well-connected, aka nepotism.

Edited

Or could it be that certain talents like ability to act run in families?

Original poster

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 16:08

What about the Skins lot?

But they benefit from having graduated together i suppose

like the Stath let's flats group mentioned above

OP posts:

igelkott2026 · 04/05/2026 16:08

I didn't know until recently that Carol Drinkwater who was Helen in the original series of All Creatures Great and Small is the sister of Linda Regan who was in Hi di Hi, it was when Brian Murphy died last year that I saw.

Recklessismymiddlename · 04/05/2026 16:06

Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are siblings

Original poster

mumofoneAloneandwell · 04/05/2026 16:06

Crikeyalmighty · 04/05/2026 16:05

talking of nepotistic —Jack Whitehalls dad is one of the biggest entertainment agents out there

Show quote history

That nepotism is the most shameless I have ever seen 😄😄😄

I kind of have to respect it, its honest if nothing else

OP posts:

Crikeyalmighty · 04/05/2026 16:05

susiedaisy1912 · 04/05/2026 15:35

Nepotism at its finest 😁

talking of nepotistic —Jack Whitehalls dad is one of the biggest entertainment agents out there

Sourisblanche · 04/05/2026 16:05

Daniel Craig <clutches straw> I haven’t looked it up but I don’t think he was connected…

Tutorpuzzle · 04/05/2026 16:03

QueenOfHiraeth · 04/05/2026 15:45

It's bad enough that acting, TV, etc is such a closed shop but now we are supposed to believe they are all incredibly talented novelists or children's authors in their spare time!
I wonder if an ordinary person wrote any of the celeb books that top the charts, would they even get published?

Celeb books are written by ordinary people!😜

TellingBone · 04/05/2026 16:03

treeposer2 · 04/05/2026 15:20

Big Mo and Sirius Black are siblings. Wild.

Big Mo's stage name, Laila Morse, was suggested to her by Isabella Rossellini, daughter of Ingrid Bergman, who was dating her brother Gary Oldman at the time. It's an anagram of 'Mia Sorella' - my sister.