When you're a well-established director, we imagine you are given final say on most of the casting decisions. After all, it's you who's going to have to work with these people for the next several months. However, this should exclude the director's kids, particularly but not necessarily limited to little kids. That's the kind of Hollywood nepotism that is beyond annoying. Having said that, the following list of directors are guilty of casting their not particularly talented children in films and TV shows where it's obvious someone else could have done much better.
Lorelei Linklater (Daughter of Richard Linklater), "Boyhood" (2014)
![directors who cast their kids, Lorelei Linklater Richard Linklater]()
Since it's Oscar season, we figured we'd start with a recent Oscar contender. While "Boyhood" is widely considered a fantastic and groundbreaking movie all around, we couldn't help but notice the weak link in the chain. We don't like calling out little kids on their acting performances more than anyone else, but we also wouldn't do it if they didn't stand out among the others as clearly the one who could have been better. And once you realize it was the director's own flesh and blood, you can't help but feel a little shortchanged.
Sofia Coppola (Daughter of Francis Ford Coppola), "The Godfather: Part III" (1990)
![directors who cast their kids, Sofia Coppola Francis Ford Coppola]()
We're aware that the part of Mary Corleone wasn't originally supposed to be played by Sofia Coppola (Winona Ryder is said to have dropped out last minute), but we also know that the director has a history of putting family members in his films. After all, his sister played Connie Corleone in the original. Hell, Sofia was the baby in the baptism scene. If the casting was in fact a circumstantial matter, then so be it, but as it stands this is a case where not only is it likely that there was someone better for the role, there actually was. Maybe it wouldn't have hurt to postpone and look a little harder for a replacement.
Andrew Miller (Son of Bill Lawrence), "Scrubs" (2001-2010)
![directors who cast their kids, Andrew Miller Bill Lawrence]()
When it comes to casting your kid in role, specifically one such as this example where it starts out as just putting your baby in a few shots, of course use your own kid. Less hassle is never a bad thing. But as the show goes on and the role requires the child to start speaking, we'd recommend hiring a professional. Call us picky, but when you have to subtitle what a kid is saying because he can't be understood, either cut his lines entirely (when has what a two-year-old has to say been pivotal to a plot anyways?) or just age the part slightly (again, what does it really matter?) and cast someone else a little older who is not your son.
Francesca Eastwood (Daughter of Clint Eastwood), "Jersey Boys" (2014)
![directors who cast their kids, Francesca Eastwood Clint Eastwood]()
Here's the issue we have here: Francesca Eastwood isn't some unknown. In fact, prior to her relatively small part in this film, her resume (including starring on the reality show "Mrs. Eastwood and Company" and webseries "Oh, You Pretty Things!") didn't warrant the need for a big break. If it was simply a matter of Clint Eastwood wanting to work on a project with his daughter, they already did that in 1999's "True Crime," another film he directed in which Francesca played his daughter. Why not give Waitress #1 in "Jersey Boys" to a struggling actress who needs it, especially since it wasn't the most involved role in the world.
Pearl McKay (Daughter of Adam McKay), "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013)
![directors who cast their kids, Pearl McKay Adam McKay]()
We can't say Pearl McKay's quick line of dialogue during the Sea World scene in "Anchorman 2" is atrocious, (in fact, it was probably one of the most coherent things she's ever said in her three IMDB credits), but it was completely useless. Literally any kid in the world who can talk could have delivered it the exact same, if not better. We're not going to dog a guy for putting his little girl in one of his movies, but he's already done this. She was in a deleted scene from the first film that ended up on "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie," which was made from all the cut scenes. The bottom line here is give these throwaway lines to other kids who it might actually mean something to.
Harley Quinn Smith, (Daughter of Kevin Smith), "Yoga Hosers" (2015)
![directors who cast their kids, Harley Quinn Smith Kevin Smith]()
What do you do when you need someone famous to be in your movie? You cast his kid in the movie, of course. And if your kid is friends with his kid, we suppose you just cast both kids as the leads in your movie and claim they are amazing until people actually see it. That seems to be Kevin Smith's reasoning behind casting both his and Johnny Depp's daughters as the leads in "Yoga Hosers." To be fair, you might know them both from "Tusk," their only legitimate film credits so far, which was also directed by Kevin Smith and based off a stoner podcast idea based off a fake Craigslist ad. Are we being sarcastic enough for you?
Marten Holden Weiner (Son of Matthew Weiner), "Mad Men" (2007-2015)
![directors who cast their kids, Marten Holden Weiner Matthew Weiner]()
"I have a son and here he is!" seems to be the logic behind "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner casting his boy Marten in the role of Glen Bishop, the creepy and mostly dull neighbor kid, on his award-winning series. We'd be less okay with this if he actually gave his son any sort of good material to work with that made him stand out, but as it stands, we don't know if the role was forgettable or just the person playing it. We assume the latter. The "Mad Men" creator gave his other son Charles a role on the series as well, but it only lasted one episode.
Blake Lively (Daughter of Ernie Lively), "Sandman" (1998)
![directors who cast their kids, Blake Lively Ernie Lively]()
This isn't necessarily a case of a director who shouldn't have cast his daughter in one of his films as much as it not really mattering that he did all that much. We're sure someone will chime in here, but does anyone even remember the film "Sandman," which is Ernie Lively's only film director credit? If anything, casting Blake did him the favor, as he went on to star as her father in both "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" films. But if casting her in his movie in any way led to to those god-awful films being made, then not cool, dude. Not cool.
Anjelica Huston (Daughter of John Huston), "A Walk with Love and Death" (1969)
![directors who cast their kids, Anjelica Huston John Huston]()
Here's the first case that doesn't revolve around acting ability or the director casting their kid simply because it's their kid. Kind of. Essentially, John Huston shouldn't have given the role of Claudia to his daughter because she was a huge brat about it. And about NOT wanting to be in it at that. We're not even going to express our opinion on it more than that. We'll let this quote from Anjelica herself do the talking for us: "I wasn't crazy about the part. I was a big snob at the time. I felt that the script was a bit saccharine. ... And dad wouldn't let me wear makeup, which was seriously problematic. So the whole thing was a bit of a debacle." (source)
Maude and Iris Apatow (Daughters of Judd Apatow), "This is 40" (2012)
![directors who cast their kids, Maude Apatow Iris Apatow Judd Apatow]()
Judd Apatow should have just called this film "This is My Family with Paul Rudd," because that's why it sucks. If you want to sniff your own farts, at least cast actual actors so it feels like a movie and not just watching a rich person try to tackle the hardships of growing older. Seriously, the problems in this film are not the average person problems, and the fact that you put your entire family in it as the leads shows that "This is Not Relatable," either. This is the end of the list.
Lorelei Linklater (Daughter of Richard Linklater), "Boyhood" (2014)
Since it's Oscar season, we figured we'd start with a recent Oscar contender. While "Boyhood" is widely considered a fantastic and groundbreaking movie all around, we couldn't help but notice the weak link in the chain. We don't like calling out little kids on their acting performances more than anyone else, but we also wouldn't do it if they didn't stand out among the others as clearly the one who could have been better. And once you realize it was the director's own flesh and blood, you can't help but feel a little shortchanged.
Sofia Coppola (Daughter of Francis Ford Coppola), "The Godfather: Part III" (1990)
We're aware that the part of Mary Corleone wasn't originally supposed to be played by Sofia Coppola (Winona Ryder is said to have dropped out last minute), but we also know that the director has a history of putting family members in his films. After all, his sister played Connie Corleone in the original. Hell, Sofia was the baby in the baptism scene. If the casting was in fact a circumstantial matter, then so be it, but as it stands this is a case where not only is it likely that there was someone better for the role, there actually was. Maybe it wouldn't have hurt to postpone and look a little harder for a replacement.
Andrew Miller (Son of Bill Lawrence), "Scrubs" (2001-2010)
When it comes to casting your kid in role, specifically one such as this example where it starts out as just putting your baby in a few shots, of course use your own kid. Less hassle is never a bad thing. But as the show goes on and the role requires the child to start speaking, we'd recommend hiring a professional. Call us picky, but when you have to subtitle what a kid is saying because he can't be understood, either cut his lines entirely (when has what a two-year-old has to say been pivotal to a plot anyways?) or just age the part slightly (again, what does it really matter?) and cast someone else a little older who is not your son.
Francesca Eastwood (Daughter of Clint Eastwood), "Jersey Boys" (2014)
Here's the issue we have here: Francesca Eastwood isn't some unknown. In fact, prior to her relatively small part in this film, her resume (including starring on the reality show "Mrs. Eastwood and Company" and webseries "Oh, You Pretty Things!") didn't warrant the need for a big break. If it was simply a matter of Clint Eastwood wanting to work on a project with his daughter, they already did that in 1999's "True Crime," another film he directed in which Francesca played his daughter. Why not give Waitress #1 in "Jersey Boys" to a struggling actress who needs it, especially since it wasn't the most involved role in the world.
Pearl McKay (Daughter of Adam McKay), "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013)
We can't say Pearl McKay's quick line of dialogue during the Sea World scene in "Anchorman 2" is atrocious, (in fact, it was probably one of the most coherent things she's ever said in her three IMDB credits), but it was completely useless. Literally any kid in the world who can talk could have delivered it the exact same, if not better. We're not going to dog a guy for putting his little girl in one of his movies, but he's already done this. She was in a deleted scene from the first film that ended up on "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie," which was made from all the cut scenes. The bottom line here is give these throwaway lines to other kids who it might actually mean something to.
Harley Quinn Smith, (Daughter of Kevin Smith), "Yoga Hosers" (2015)
What do you do when you need someone famous to be in your movie? You cast his kid in the movie, of course. And if your kid is friends with his kid, we suppose you just cast both kids as the leads in your movie and claim they are amazing until people actually see it. That seems to be Kevin Smith's reasoning behind casting both his and Johnny Depp's daughters as the leads in "Yoga Hosers." To be fair, you might know them both from "Tusk," their only legitimate film credits so far, which was also directed by Kevin Smith and based off a stoner podcast idea based off a fake Craigslist ad. Are we being sarcastic enough for you?
Marten Holden Weiner (Son of Matthew Weiner), "Mad Men" (2007-2015)
"I have a son and here he is!" seems to be the logic behind "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner casting his boy Marten in the role of Glen Bishop, the creepy and mostly dull neighbor kid, on his award-winning series. We'd be less okay with this if he actually gave his son any sort of good material to work with that made him stand out, but as it stands, we don't know if the role was forgettable or just the person playing it. We assume the latter. The "Mad Men" creator gave his other son Charles a role on the series as well, but it only lasted one episode.
Blake Lively (Daughter of Ernie Lively), "Sandman" (1998)
This isn't necessarily a case of a director who shouldn't have cast his daughter in one of his films as much as it not really mattering that he did all that much. We're sure someone will chime in here, but does anyone even remember the film "Sandman," which is Ernie Lively's only film director credit? If anything, casting Blake did him the favor, as he went on to star as her father in both "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" films. But if casting her in his movie in any way led to to those god-awful films being made, then not cool, dude. Not cool.
Anjelica Huston (Daughter of John Huston), "A Walk with Love and Death" (1969)
Here's the first case that doesn't revolve around acting ability or the director casting their kid simply because it's their kid. Kind of. Essentially, John Huston shouldn't have given the role of Claudia to his daughter because she was a huge brat about it. And about NOT wanting to be in it at that. We're not even going to express our opinion on it more than that. We'll let this quote from Anjelica herself do the talking for us: "I wasn't crazy about the part. I was a big snob at the time. I felt that the script was a bit saccharine. ... And dad wouldn't let me wear makeup, which was seriously problematic. So the whole thing was a bit of a debacle." (source)
Maude and Iris Apatow (Daughters of Judd Apatow), "This is 40" (2012)
Judd Apatow should have just called this film "This is My Family with Paul Rudd," because that's why it sucks. If you want to sniff your own farts, at least cast actual actors so it feels like a movie and not just watching a rich person try to tackle the hardships of growing older. Seriously, the problems in this film are not the average person problems, and the fact that you put your entire family in it as the leads shows that "This is Not Relatable," either. This is the end of the list.
