Let’s get real, Hollywood tends to feel more like a glamorous family reunion with perfect lighting and way too much shine. During the social media age, the term “nepo baby” has become a thing unto itself. Regardless of whether you find them motivating, maddening, or secretly wish you had backstage access to fame, there’s no getting around these celebrity offspring making waves. Even so, not all nepo babies are made the same. Some have tales so crazy, or resumes so successful, that you just can’t help but be impressed by them, or at least gaze in awe. Below are ten of Hollywood’s most intriguing nepo babies, the ones who’ve made their inherited limelight their own.
10. Liv Tyler – The Paternity Plot Twist That Belongs in a Movie
Liv Tyler’s own real-life backstory might have been taken directly from a soap opera. She was raised thinking musician Todd Rundgren was her father, but at age 11, she learned her actual dad was Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler. The news came after seeing how much she looked like another girl, Steven’s daughter Mia, at a concert. Ever since, Liv has established close friendships with men and created a career on her own terms, from modeling to her ethereal move as Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. She started dramatically, but it’s all hers now.
9. Billie Lourd – The Princess of Hollywood Royalty
If Hollywood were to have a royal bloodline, Billie Lourd would be right next to the throne. Being the child of the late Carrie Fisher and the granddaughter of screen icon Debbie Reynolds, she has cinematic heritage in her blood. Having already shared a screen with her mother in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Billie demonstrated her own star authority in Scream Queens and American Horror Story. She pays tribute to her family tradition while establishing her own identity, an ideal mixture of old-school nostalgia and fresh-generation skill.
8. Maude Apatow – From Comedy Cameos to HBO Cool
Maude Apatow virtually grew up on film sets, reprising her mom’s daughter in her father’s movies (Knocked Up, This Is 40). But her breakout turn as Lexi in Euphoria proved she’s more than a family cameo. With her earthy acting and dry wit, Maude is showing that Hollywood heritage can be paired with genuine talent, not merely an early debut.
7. Maya Hawke – The Candid Nepo Baby
Few celebrity children have taken the “nepo baby” moniker on as openly as Maya Hawke. A child of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, she has explicitly conceded that nepotism helped her get her foot in the door, even saying that her minor role in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood likely resulted from her surname. But she’s supported it with undeniable skill, from Stranger Things to Asteroid City. Maya’s blend of candor and charm has made her one of the most endearing people to be talked about when it comes to nepo babies.
6. Lily-Rose Depp – Fashion’s Favorite Legacy Kid
When your parents are Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, fame is practically a family heirloom. But Lily-Rose Depp has used that inheritance to build a career at the intersection of high fashion and indie film. A longtime muse for Chanel, she’s also made waves in The Idol and The King. While she’s pushed back against the nepo baby label, there’s no denying her star power comes from a mix of talent, opportunity, and unmistakable cool.
5. Margaret Qualley – Grace Meets Grit
Margaret Qualley began her creative path as a dancer, then transitioned to acting, and she’s been holding audiences in her thrall ever since. Daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, she’s demonstrated a remarkable range in Maid, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Poor Things. Typically playing thoughtful, emotionally nuanced characters, Margaret’s understated, profoundly effective performances demonstrate that brilliance can be in the blood without being obfuscated by it.
4. Zoë Kravitz – Rock Royalty Transformed into Screen Icon
Zoë Kravitz was almost fated to be cool. With musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet (and bonus ex-stepdad Jason Momoa) as parents, Zoë’s family tree is a pop-culture fantasy. But she’s more than a celebrity surname from Big Little Lies to The Batman to High Fidelity; she’s forged her own distinct type of artistry that combines music, movies, and fashion. Zoë is living proof that legacy can be a starting point, not a constraint.
3. Dakota Johnson – Hollywood’s Coolest Heir
Dakota Johnson’s pedigree is all but mythical; he the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, and granddaughter of Hitchcock icon Tippi Hedren. But Dakota’s own wit and quirky humor have endeared her to Hollywood as one of the most refreshing presences on screen. Following her breakout in Fifty Shades of Grey, she’s demonstrated her range in anything from indies to ensemble dramas. She inherits her family’s legacy with a combination of wit, humor, and passive rebellion.
2. Jack Quaid – Nepo Baby to Fan Favorite
Raised by rom-com royalty, Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, Jack Quaid might have ridden his last name to fame. Instead, he proved himself in Amazon’s The Boys, in which his combination of earnestness and klutzy heroism made him a star. With a growing body of work that includes voice work on Star Trek: Lower Decks, Jack has established his own identity, with humor and heart in equal measure.
1. Jamie Lee Curtis – The Original Nepo Baby Blueprint
Jamie Lee Curtis was a nepo baby long before “nepo baby” was even a word. She is the offspring of Hollywood legends Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, and she was a star in her own right after Halloween turned her into the complete Scream Queen. From horror classics to an Oscar win, she’s established one of the longest-lasting careers in the industry on top of embracing her heritage with honesty and humility. Jamie Lee is living proof that family ties can indeed open doors, but longevity requires actual talent.
The “nepo baby” controversy isn’t going away anytime soon, and perhaps it shouldn’t. As Maya Hawke once put it, admitting privilege isn’t shameful; it’s just truthful. Nepotism can get you into the room, but work and determination, and something you cannot learn: charisma, get you to stay there. Love them or eye-roll them, these stars prove that in Hollywood, family connections can get you in, but after that, what you do is your own tale.