17 Actors Who Hid Their Children In Their TV Shows And Movies, But It's Not Super Obvious
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There are some big spoilers ahead!
1.First, in Maestro, which Bradley Cooper wrote, directed, and starred in, his daughter, Lea Cooper, played a younger version of Leonard Bernstein's daughter Jamie. Maya Hawke plays the older version of Jamie in the film.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie.
2.In Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sean Astin's daughter, Ali Astin, made a small appearance as Elanor Gamgee, Samwise's daughter.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. She's gone on to appear in several TV shows and movies, most recently The Morning Show and Candy Cane Lane.
3.In Donald Glover's new series, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which he co-created and stars in, his son, Legend Glover, appears in Episode 4 as Benjamin, the son of John Smith's ex-girlfriend Rooney.
This marked his first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. Donald's real-life mom, Beverly, also appeared in the final two episodes of Season 1 as John's mom.
4.While starring as Prince Charles in The Crown, Dominic West's son, Senan West, appeared in three episodes of Season 5 as young Prince William.
This marked his first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. For Season 6, the role of Prince William was played by Ed McVey.
5.In Thor: Love & Thunder, Chris Hemsworth's daughter, India Rose Hemsworth, appears as Gorr's daughter Love, whom Thor eventually adopts and fights with.
This marked her first acting credit in a TV show or movie.
6.Also in Thor: Love & Thunder, Chris's son, Tristan Hemsworth, can be spotted at the beginning of the film playing a younger version of Thor.
This marked his first acting credit in a TV show or movie. Alongside Chris's children, Taika Waititi and Natalie Portman's children are also hidden in the film.
7.In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor's daughter, Esther McGregor, appeared in Episode 2 as Tetha Grig, a spice dealer Obi-Wan encounters while searching for Princess Leia.
This marked one of her first acting credits in a TV show or movie after appearing in a few short films. Since, Esther starred in the show, High School in 2022.
8.Vin Diesel has been starring in The Fast and Furious movies since 2001. In 2021, for F9: The Last Saga, he had his son, Vincent Sinclair Diesel, appear as a younger version of his character Dom Toretto. Vinnie Bennett plays a teenage Dom in the movie, too.
This marked his first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie.
9.In 1999, Melanie Griffith starred in the movie Crazy in Alabama, which was directed by her then-husband Antonio Banderas. Melanie's daughter, Dakota Johnson, made her acting debut in the movie at just 10 years old.
As mentioned, this was Dakota's very first acting credit. Her next one would come 11 years later when she appeared in The Social Network. Of course, she's gone on to have a pretty recognizable career, starring in movies like Fifty Shades of Grey, How to be Single, Suspiria, The Lost Daughter, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Madame Web, and more.
10.In 1992, Denzel Washington notably starred in Malcolm X, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. His son, John David Washington, appears at the very end of the movie as a student in a classroom in Harlem.
This marked his first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. After playing professional football for the St. Louis Rams for a season, John's gone on to have a big acting career. He's appeared in movies like BlacKkKlansman, Tenet, Malcolm & Marie, Amsterdam, The Creator, and more.
11.Melissa McCarthy starred in and wrote The Boss, which was also written and directed by her husband Ben Falcone. In the movie, their daughter, Vivian Falcone, played a younger version of Melissa's character Michelle.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. Later on, she appeared as a younger version of Melissa's character in Thunder Force in 2021.
12.In Maleficent, Angelina Jolie's daughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, can be spotted at the beginning of the movie. She plays a five-year-old version of Aurora, who is portrayed by Elle Fanning.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. Vivienne reportedly nabbed the role of young Aurora because the other young actors were too terrified of Angelina in the Maleficent makeup, outfit, and more. Angelina explained, "The other three- and four-year-old [performers] wouldn’t come near me. It had to be a child that liked me and wasn’t afraid of my horns and my eyes and my claws. So it had to be Viv."
13.Meanwhile, in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt had his daughter, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, appear as the baby version of Caroline. Julia Ormond plays adult Caroline in the film.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. She also did some voice work in Kung Fu Panda 3, which Angelina Jolie stars in.
14.While starring on Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston's daughter, Taylor Dearden, made a brief appearance in the Season 3 premiere as "Sad Faced Girl," aka a girl who talks at a school assembly after the plane crash.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. Since then, Taylor has gone on to appear in several TV shows and movies. Most notably, she starred as Ophelia in the short-lived series Sweet/Vicious.
15.In Rocky II, Sylvester Stallone's son, Seargeoh Stallone, played Rocky and Adrian's newborn son Robert "Rocky" Balboa Jr. Sly's son, Sage Stallone, went on to play the role in Rocky V, and Milo Ventimiglia took over the role in Rocky Balboa.
This marked his first (and only) appearance in a TV show or movie. Sage had a much bigger role in Rocky V, which was also his first acting credit. Sadly, Sage died in 2012.
16.While starring in City Slickers, Billy Crystal had his daughter, Lindsay Crystal, star as his character's daughter in the movie.
This marked her first onscreen appearance in a TV show or movie. Lindsay has gone on to direct segments of shows like Busy Tonight, Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, The Daily Show, and more. She also reprised her role in City Slickers 2.
17.And finally, while starring on The West Wing, Martin Sheen had his youngest child, Renée Estevez, star as Nancy, an assistant to the executive secretary of the President of the US. Renée appeared in 44 episodes of the show from Season 1 through the series finale.
Prior to appearing on The West Wing, Renée also appeared in TV shows like Addams Family Reunion, MacGyver, and Growing Pains.
