12 Times Actors’ Parents Played Their Onscreen Parents
Plenty of actors’ kids follow in their footsteps, and sometimes, art imitates life.
Here are 12 times actors’ real parents played their parents onscreen (but they’re not super well-known):
1.
On Master of None Season 1, Aziz Ansari’s parents, Shoukath and Fatima Ansari, played Dev Shah’s parents, Ramesh and Nisha.
Here they are together IRL:
2.
In Small Town Saturday Night, Chris Pine plays Rhett Ryan, and his dad, Robert Pine, play Rhett’s father, John Ryan.
Here they are together IRL:
3.
In BBC Sherlock Season 3, Benedict Cumberbatch’s parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, played Sherlock Holmes’s parents.
Here they are together IRL (alongside actor Tracie Bennett):
4.
In the DCOM Jump In!, Corbin Bleu played Izzy Daniels, and his dad, David Reivers, played Izzy’s dad, Kenneth.
Here they are together IRL:
5.
But that’s not the only time Corbin and David teamed up onscreen! In High School Musical 3: Senior Year, David had a small role as Chad Danforth’s father.
Once again, here they are together IRL:
6.
In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequel, Ernie Lively played Franz Vreeland, the father of his real-life daughter Blake Lively’s character, Bridget.
7.
In the 2024 Apple TV+ series Palm Royale, Bruce Dern and Laura Dern played father/daughter duo Skeet Rollins and Linda Shaw/Penelope Rollins.
Here they are together IRL:
8.
In 1997, Matthew Perry starred as Alex Whitman in Fools Rush In. His dad, John Bennett Perry, played Richard Whitman.
Here they are together IRL:
9.
That’s not the only time they’ve played father and son onscreen! On the Scrubs Season 4 episode “My Unicorn,” John guest-starred as Gregory Marks, a patient, and Matthew played his son, Murray.
Here are they are together IRL once again:
10.
In the 2021 miniseries Maid, Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell costarred as Alex Russell and her mother, Paula Langley.
Here they are together IRL:
11.
In 2015’s Forsaken, Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland played father and son Rev. Samuel Clayton and John Henry Clayton.
Here they are together IRL:
12.
And finally, Jerry Stiller played Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens. On the Season 4 episode “Shrink Wrap,” his son, Ben Stiller, played Arthur’s father, Jerry Spooner.
Here they are together IRL:
What’s your favorite actor parent/child onscreen matchup? Let us know in the comments!
