Nepo babies love to vacation at The White Lotus.
Multiple actors with famous parents have been cast in Mike White’s hit HBO series.
Patrick Schwarzenegger, the son of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist Maria Shriver, and Sam Nivola, the son of actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola, are playing brothers involved in an incest storyline in Season 3.
Their co-star, Charlotte Le Bon (who plays Chloe), is also a nepo baby; she’s the daughter of Canadian actress Brigitte Paquette. Le Bon’s stepfather, Frank Schorpion, is also an actor.
Jon Gries, who has played Greg on all three seasons, comes from a Hollywood family as well. His late father is director and producer Tom Gries.
Additionally, Season 2 star Leo Woodall is related to multiple actors, including the 1910s silent-film actor Maxine Elliott.
Although not a nepo baby, Leslie Bibb’s role as Kate in Season 3 also helped bring her super-famous partner, Sam Rockwell, onto the scene as Rick’s (Walton Goggins) pal Frank.
By appearing on “The White Lotus,” these nepo baby actors have put in the work to escape the title that haunts so many Hollywood stars.
Schwarzenegger, 31, defended being cast in the show in an interview with The Sunday Times in February, acknowledging, “I know there are people who’ll say I only got this role because of who my dad is.”
“They’re not seeing that I’ve had 10 years of acting classes, put on [high] school plays every week, worked on my characters for hours on end or the hundreds of rejected auditions I’ve been on,” he said.
“Of course, it’s frustrating and you can get boxed in and you think at that moment, I wish I didn’t have my last name. But, that’s a small moment,” Schwarzenegger added.
But the “Gen V” star declared that he’d “never trade my life for anyone” and is thankful for “the parents that I have.”
In fact, the label nearly hurt Schwarzenegger’s chances at his audition, as producer David Bernad revealed they “didn’t want to cast him” because of his famous last name.
But, he was “just so good,” he told People.
In an interview with IndieWire, Schwarzenegger said that he and Nivola, 21, never bonded over both being nepo babies while playing the Ratliff brothers.
“I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t even know who Sam was or who his family was until like six months into the thing,” Schwarzenegger admitted. “He was, like, ‘Oh, I hope they don’t call me a nepo baby.’ And I was, like, ‘Why?’”
Nivola, for his part, told The New Yorker back in 2022 that his famous mom and dad “had always been really adamant about us not getting into that industry.”
“They were kind of pissed off,” Nivola said, but they changed their tune once he was cast in Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise.”
Ironically, Nivola is dating fellow nepo baby Iris Apatow, who is the daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, and younger sister of “Euphoria” star Maude Apatow.
Nivola joked to British Vogue in January that his friend group is like “some secret cabal of nepo kids who hang out in black robes.” The “Perfect Couple” star added, “My parents aren’t, like, total celebrities. They don’t get recognized in the street.”
Gries, 67, meanwhile, became an actor at a young age thanks to his father’s influence. Gries’ late dad directed and produced dozens of films from the 1950s to the 1970s. He also worked behind-the-scenes on shows like “Batman,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Detectives” and “I Spy.”
“Even though my parents divorced when I was 13 and my father moved out, I would still go to sets with him and visit,” Gries said in a 2022 interview.
“My father passed away when I was 19. I never wanted to do anything on his coattails anyway,” the “Lost” alum continued. “I was like, ‘Look, I love you and you’re my Pop, but I’m gonna do this on my own.’ It was a good preparation because of his untimely death, and then there was a long period of studying and working hard.”
Woodall, 28, has also spoken out about being a nepo baby. His stepfather is “Monarch of the Glen” star Alexander Morton. And Elliott, Woodall’s distant relative on his mom’s side, was a famous silent film actress.
“They’d known so many actors in their lives, in the family and outside the family, and they knew how hard it could be,” Woodall told The Guardian in 2024 of telling his parents he decided to become an actor. “I think they knew I’d probably end up being one.”
“I was so nervous about what my family would think of me as an actor,” the “One Day” star admitted. “Just, was I any good? I’ve always felt this personal pressure to make it. And they’ve always been wonderful and supportive.”
Bibb, 51, previously confirmed that Rockwell, 56, was invited to appear on Season 3 (and deliver an iconic monologue) “very last-minute,” after she was already filming in Thailand.
“He was not sure about doing it just because he didn’t have proper prep time,” she recalled on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” last month. “So we went on a safari in South Africa, and I was like, ‘I’ll get you off book. I’ll get you off book.’”
Bibb, who has been dating the “Fosse/Verdon” star since 2007, told EW she enjoyed having her partner join the show, even though they didn’t share scenes together.
“It’s nice to be able to have a context to share, and we’re lucky to have him,” she said.
