In The Family: 8 Actors You Didn’t Know Had Kids In The ‘Biz

Hollywood families are nothing new in showbiz. Entire family trees that require a pen, paper and a certificate in geneology such as the Coppola-Cage-Schwartzman clan are common knowledge for even those with a passing interest in film. If a rising actor shares a surname with an established star, all it takes is one journalist to ask, and a nepotistic secret is revealed. Famous parent and offspring combos have long been outed - Kiefer Sutherland’s Dad is Donald Sutherland! Quelle surprise! Angelina Jolie is estranged from her father…Jon Voight! Goldie Hawn is Kate Hudson’s Dad! What?! What of those who’ve worked a little harder to make it on their own? To keep the family connection a secret? Read on for 5 actors you never knew had kids in showbiz…

2) Meryl Streep – Daughters: Mamie and Grace Gummer

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If you’ve not already twigged from the unmistakable resemblance between acting powerhouse that is Meryl Streep and her daughters, then look closer. Two of her four children with sculptor husband, Don Gummer, have followed in mama’s Oscar-winning footsteps and taken to the screen.

Mamie, shown on the left, charged out of the gate at the ripe old age of twenty months – starring with her mother and Jack Nicholson in the comedy Heartburn. She took a break to attend college before returning to the screen with a modest role in the Richard Gere-vehicle, The Hoax in 2007. She continued to grab bit parts, landing credited roles in Evening (playing a younger version of her mother), The Hours, Stop-Loss, Taking Woodstock, the HBO series John Adams and a recurring cameo as the quick-witted Nancy Crozier in The Good Wife.

She also starred in quirky TV dramedy, Emily Owens, MD., broadcast on the WC which was canceled in 2013 after one season. Luckily she snapped up parts in The Lifeguard and Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects.

The youngest of the pair, Grace, broke into acting later on, snapping up small supporting parts in Larry Crowne and Frances Ha. Like her big sister, she’s transitioned to the small screen for a stab at some serial action. She popped up as Anjelica Houston’s daughter in Smash, and played an FBI agent in Zero Hour before joining the cast of HBO’s The Newsroom for its second season. Will either of the daughters of the world’s greatest living actress one day also have a mantlepiece crowded with gold statuettes? Only time will tell.


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