Lymelife (2010)
Family connections: Like any of us can really tell the Culkin boys apart! Luckily those canny little whippersnappers have used their spooky family resemblance to bag each other film jobs. Here, Rory and Kieran Culkin play brothers in a film that also stars movie family members Emma Roberts and Alec Baldwin.
Nepotastic? These kids started early. Kieran first appeared alongside big bro Macaulay in Home Alone before going on to the Father Of The Bride flicks. Rory then played a younger version of Mac in Richie Rich , and later appeared with Kieran in Igby Goes Down . And if you can keep all that straight you’re a genius.
The Karate Kid (2010)
Family connections: Young Jaden Smith – son of Will and Jada Pinkett – bagged his first lead role proper in this hit remake thanks to his lovely dad. See, Big Willie is the producer of said ‘80s re-do, and kindly turned it into a vehicle for his son to make his mark on the movie world.
Nepotastic? Never have we seen a more perfect family than the Smiths – we don’t blame them for wanting to spend all their time together. Previous collabs include Will and Jaden starring as father and son in The Pursuit Of Happyness , while Jada and daughter Willow both voiced characters in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa .
The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Family connections: Francis Ford Coppola gave the role of Mary Corleone to his daughter Sofia after Winona Ryder departed for Edward Scissorhands . Sofia had already played a starring role as the baby in the christening scene of the first Godfather…
Nepotastic? Ford Coppola isn’t afraid to give his loved one’s a leg-up. He cast nephew Nicolas Cage in his first ever film role in Rumble Fish . Other members of the Coppola clan are involved in the biz, Francis’ mother appearing in the first two Godfather s and his sister is the one and only Talia Shire – Adrian from Rocky .
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Family connections: Siblings John and Joan Cusack play a secret agent and his secretary in this classic spy flick. Evidently knowing your co-star so well works in terms of chemistry – the duo spar with each other verbally in some hilarious face-offs.
Nepotastic? The family that plays together stays together. Clearly these two just love working alongside one another – they’ve starred in eight further flicks together dating back to their humble beginnings in the ‘80s, including Sixteen Candles, Grandview USA, High Fidelity, Say Anything and most recently War, Inc .
Wall Street (1987)
Family connections: Charlie Sheen chose daddy dearest Martin Sheen over Clint Eastwood to play his dad, ensuring that the chemistry between the fictional father and son had an extra edge to it.
Nepotastic? The Sheen clan (or the Estevez clan as they were originally known) have always been a family living on the edge, but their big screen team-ups have never suffered from their off-screen bust-ups. When Martin suffered a heart attack on Apocalypse Now , son Emilio stood in for certain shots and supplied voiceovers, while Martin’s daughter also appeared in his show The West Wing .
Whos Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Family connections: Husband and wife Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton appeared in this Oscar-winning drama together two years after they got married (the first time). Other couples have tried a similar thing, mostly in films that turned out to be total turkeys.
Nepotastic? The duo met on set of Cleopatra a year before they wed, which sort of set the course for their rocky relationship – they were both married to other people at the time of filming. After marrying, they appeared in six films together, and then divorced in 1974. And then got hitched again.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Family connections: Jake and sis Maggie Gyllenhaal pair up as on-screen brother and sister, and scrap like there’s no tomorrow. Apparently Maggie loved the opportunity to explore her relationship with her bro. “To work together,” she says, “we really demanded a lot from each other and challenged each other to go to places we wouldn’t otherwise go.”
Nepotastic? Maggie made her movie debut in her dad’s Waterland in 1992, and appeared in numerous other flicks by Papa G, including Dangerous Woman . As if that wasn’t enough, Jake’s godmother is the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Family connections: Director Chris Nolan recruited his brother Jonathan to help him resurrect the Dark Knight in this outstanding sequel. Together, they created one of the most successful follow-ups ever, with TDK taking a $1bn worldwide box office. No wonder they’re working together again on the upcoming Batman 3 .
Nepotastic? We bet Chris and Jonathan sit singing ‘It’s A Family Affair’ with their tea and biscuits on a Sunday afternoon. The duo have paired up previously for Memento and The Prestige – evidently it’s a formula that works for them.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Family connections: Sam Raimi relied on family members to help bulk out his micro-budget first feature, namely calling on brothers Ted and Ivan to take roles. It was to be a winning formula that Raimi has repeated ever since.
Nepotastic? Yep, mostly because it started a chain reaction of inter-family movie-job-getting. Since Evil Dead , Ted has cropped up in pretty much everything his big bro has had a hand in, including Xena, Cleveland Smith, Stryker’s War, Evil Dead II, Lunatics, Hard Target and all three Spider-Man flicks. Ivan also cropped up in Drag Me To Hell .
The Guys (2002)
Family connections: Sigourney Weaver and husband Jim Simpson co-starred together in this post-9/11 drama about a fire captain who loses eight men in the World Trade Center suicide bombings and must write eulogies for them. Simpson directed, while the pair’s daughter Charlotte Simpson played their daughter.
Nepotastic? Narcissistic more like, with this trio basically playing themselves in a heightened reality. Still, they’ve not done any movies together since so perhaps they got sick of the sight of each other. Though Simpson has directed his wife in off-Broadway play Crazy Mary – we wonder how many times he got her to yell “bull shit!”
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
Family connections: Brothers Jeff and Bea Bridges stretch their acting skills to play siblings who are professional musicians. Michelle Pfeiffer is the lovely thing they hire as a singer, and who helps them to get through their issues.
Nepotastic? Both Jeff and Beau made their acting debuts with their father in series Sea Hunt . Beau also cast his mother in 1986 TV flick The Thanksgiving Promise (which he directed and starred in), while 1994 movie Sins Of The Father paired Beau with Lloyd once more. It’s a tradition that they’ve stuck with throughout their career.
That Thing You Do (1996)
Family connections: First-time director Tom Hanks kept it in the family with That Thing You Do , casting his son Colin in a small part, while his daughter also took a non-speaking role. He gave the big roles to professionals of course...
Nepotastic? The Hanks family know how to keep it together. While Colin has been off making a career for himself (even appearing in Mad Men , quite a leap from teen drama Roswell ), Tom’s daughter Elizabeth also pitched up in Forrest Gump . Meanwhile, Tom’s looky-likey bro Jim has voiced Woody in various Toy Story off-shoot projects.
