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!
