Why are we so interested in celebrities? Is it envy, jealousy, or just plain intrigue? When it comes to the children of the rich and famous, we assume that they've been groomed for success from the get-go—but these A-lister offspring may come to surprise you with their choices...
Marcus Jordan
NBA legend Michael Jordan is known for being one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Jordan's son, Marcus, grew up to take after his father, playing college basketball for the UCF Knights.
At the time, UCF had a five-year contract with Adidas, but Jordan insisted on wearing Nike Air Jordans out of loyalty for his father, which led Adidas to eventually terminate the sponsorship deal. These days, Marcus runs the online shoe store "Trophy Room."
Simone Johnson
Simone Alexandra Johnson is the oldest child of famed wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Simone is the daughter of Johnson and Dany Garcia, who split amicably a few years after she was born. Johnson's daughter followed in his footsteps, becoming the youngest person in history to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
At only 18, the wrestling legend's eldest daughter is set to become the first fourth-generation WWE superstar—Simone's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all members of the company. Although Simone might feel as though she has big shoes to fill, her family publicly expressed that her wrestling journey is all her own.
Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin is the daughter of the late Steve Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin, who currently operates the Australia Zoo. Bindi was named after her father's favorite female crocodile at the Australia Zoo. According to Steve, Bindi means "young girl" in the Nyungar language.
Bindi, like her father, has become a television personality and noted conservationist. In July 2019, she became engaged to Chandler Powell, a professional American wakeboarder from Florida. In a touching coincidence, the pair first met at the Australia Zoo in 2013. Chandler and Bindi were privately married in March 2020.
Violet Affleck
Violet Affleck is the oldest of the Affleck clan. She has two younger siblings, Seraphina and Samuel, who were born in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Although Violet's parents, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, are now separated, she appears to be on good terms with both of them.
"We're a lot like most families, I would imagine. Just being together during my time off and having fun," Garner said of her relationship with her daughters and son. "I love the laughter. Family is very important to me."
Chet Hanks
The son of A-lister Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson is often painted as the black sheep of the family. Chet has been in the spotlight for his substance abuse problems. In 2015, when Hanks was going by the alias "Chet Haze" for his rap career, he took to Instagram Live to share his struggles...
"If I can change, you can change too." Chet has been sober since the birth of his daughter.
Zelda Williams
Zelda Williams is the daughter of Marsha Garces Williams and the late Robin Williams. Zelda made her acting debut at the age of 5 and has paved her way in the film industry as an actress, director, producer, and writer. Zelda loves to play video games, including her namesake, The Legend of Zelda series.
Several years after her father's passing, Zelda opened up about her feelings. "I live my sadness every day, but I don't resent it anymore," she said. "Instead, I do it now so that the wonderful moments of joy I do find are not in order to forget, but to inhabit and enjoy for their own sake."
Maude Apatow
Maude Apatow began acting at the age of 7—which is no surprise, considering that she's the daughter of filmmaker Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann. The young actress made a name for herself playing the daughter of her mother's characters in her father's films Knocked Up, Funny People, and This Is 40.
Maude earned a spot on 2012's Forbes "30 Under 30" list for her acting work as well as her contributions to Zooey Deschanel's website Hello Giggles as an interviewer and writer. Recently, she has had roles on Euphoria as well as her father and Pete Davidson's 2020 comedy-drama The King of Staten Island.
Sosie Bacon
Sosie Bacon's first role was playing 10-year-old Emily in Loverboy (2005), a film directed by her father, Kevin Bacon. At first, her father and mother, Kyra Sedgwick, were determined to keep Sosie from pursuing a career in acting. Kevin cast her in Loverboy to "[get] it out of her system."
However, Sosie caught the acting bug, too. To her mother's dismay, Sosie briefly joined the cast of The Closer. She enrolled at Brown University and later embarked on maintaining a more consistent acting career, securing roles on shows like 13 Reasons Why and Narcos: Mexico.
Dakota Johnson
Dakota Johnson is the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. After a brief film debut at age ten, Johnson was discouraged from pursuing an acting career until she had finished high school. Once Johnson completed high school, she applied to Juilliard, but she was rejected after covering a Radiohead song.
In 2015, Johnson was cast in her first leading role as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey film adaptation. When asked about her stance on gender rights regarding the role, Johnson said, "I'm proud of [the movie]. I completely disagree with people who think Ana's weak. I think she's actually stronger than he is. Everything she does is her choice. And if I can be an advocate for women to do what they want to do with their bodies and not be ashamed of what they want, then I'm all for that."
Francesca Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, daughter of Francesca Eastwood and Frances Fisher, was put under the microscope for a very expensive stunt. In 2012, Eastwood appeared on a reality television series, Mrs. Eastwood & Company. During an early episode, Eastwood and her then-boyfriend Tyler Shields got into some trouble...
The duo was filmed burning a $100,000 Hermès Birkin bag during a photoshoot. The two received death threats as well as other negative attention for the stunt. "People spend $200,000 on an album cover, they spend millions on catering for movies, they spent money to create things—that is all I am doing with this," Shields said.
Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Kravitz is the daughter of famed musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet. Kravitz has appeared in a number of big-budget productions such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Batman. She most recently starred on the HBO series Big Little Lies and High Fidelity.
Kravitz is not only an actress but a model and musician as well. She has been the face of both YSL Beauté and Tiffany & Co. since 2017. She also fronts the band Lolawolf, which has opened for artists like Lily Allen and Miley Cyrus.
Alexa Rae Joel
Alexa Ray Joel is the daughter of Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley. Joel followed in her father's foosteps and became a singer-songwriter, and pianist. Sing us a song, piano woman, sing us a song tonight...
Joel's middle name, Ray, is an ode to her father's late friend Ray Charles, with whom he recorded "Baby Grand." Billy Joel wrote the 1993 song "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" for his daughter. He claims it is his favorite song he's ever written.
Ava Phillippe
Shockingly, this isn't just a throwback photo of Reese Witherspoon. Ava Philippe is the spitting image of her mother. She may look young here, but the 20-year-old has since blossomed into a classic beauty!
Ava is a student at UC Berkeley, and she's already completed her freshman year. Witherspoon confessed to Ellen DeGeneres that she took her daughter's departure hard: "I might have gone into her empty room, laid down on her bed and cried when she went to college."
Georgia May Jagger
Georgia May Jagger was born in London to supermodel Jerry Hall and the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger. Jagger has three siblings and several half-siblings. She took after her mother and began her prolific modeling career in 2008.
Jagger has walked for a number of brands, including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Balmain, and Miu Miu. Jagger is known for the gap in her front teeth, which she doesn't intend to fix. "It's good for people to realize that everyone is human," she said. "I still worry I'm going to look weird as I get older. I'll be a weird old woman with scary teeth."
Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain is the daughter of Hole frontwoman Courtney Love and the late frontman of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain. Her name is an homage to Frances McKee, the guitarist for The Vaselines. After the death of her father, Cobain was raised by Love, as well as several aunts and her paternal grandmother.
Cobain went on to become a visual artist and model, appearing in magazines like Elle and Harper's Bazaar. She debuted a collection of artwork under the pseudonym "Fiddle Tim." Cobain served as the executive producer of her HBO movie about her father's life, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.
John Lowe
John Lowe is the spitting image of his father, Rob Lowe. Lowe, 25, previously struggled with addiction. He recently celebrated two years sober, offering an inspiring message on Instagram: "Making the decision to change your life is difficult at any age, but as a young person I hope that I can be a small example that it is possible and that things really do get SO MUCH BETTER."
Alexandra Hoffman
Alexandra "Ali" Hoffman, daughter of Dustin Hoffman, tends to keep out of the spotlight. She once had a brief relationship with Jonah Hill, but their relationship is forever memorialized in James Franco's 2016 movie, Why Him? Franco revealed that Jonah and Ali's romance was the inspiration for the film.
Ava Sambora
Ava Sambora is the daughter of actress Heather Locklear and legendary Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora. She recently graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Ava serves as a pillar of support for her mother, who recently celebrated one year of sobriety.
Lily Sastry
Lily Sastry, formerly known as Lily Atkinson, is the daughter of famous comedian Rowan Atkinson and Sunetra Sastry. Her father is most well-known for playing Mr. Bean, a popular British sitcom. Sastry has made a name for herself as a burlesque performer.
Liv Freundlich
The daughter of Julianne Moore recently graduated from high school, and her mother couldn't be more proud. Julianne and her husband Bart Freundlich share Liv and their 22-year-old son Caleb. While Liv tends to stay away from the public eye, she has appeared in films like The Rebound and Trust the Man.
Joseph Baena
Joseph Baena is the son of former California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger and his former housekeeper, Mildred Baena. In 2011, the news broke that the actor had an affair which then birthed a son, ending his marriage to Maria Shriver after 25 years. After the scandal, Schwartzenegger did his best to get close to his son.
Taylor Cranston
Taylor Dearden Cranston, professionaly known as Taylor ZDearden, is the daughter of Bryan Cranston and Robin Gale Dearden. She is best known for both her role as Ophelia in the MTV series Sweet/Vicious, and as Chloe Lyman in the second season of the popular Netflix mockumentary series American Vandal.
Rafferty Law, son of Jude Law
Rafferty Law clearly got his looks from his father, Jude Law. The 23-year-old model was recently featured on the cover of Wonderland Magazine. He will be starring as the Oliver Twist alongside Michael Caine, Lena Headey, and Rita Ora in Twist, the latest Charles Dickinson adapation.
Lucy DeVito
Lucy Chet DeVito is the daughter of actors Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito. Lucy is an actress and producer, known for her work on Deadbeat, Leaves of Grass, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She shares her parents' stature, standing at 4'11".
Cassidy Gifford
Cassidy Gifford is the daughter of television personality Kathie Lee Gifford and former football player Frank Gifford. She stepped into the limelight for the first time in 2005 on That's So Raven and has continued her acting career since. Gifford recently married Ben Wierda, her childhood friend since the age of 11.
Connor Cruise
When Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were married, they adopted two children together: Isabella Jane and Connor Antony. Connor tends to stay out of the spotlight, but he did make appearances in both Seven Pounds and Red Dawn.
Dominik Cristina García-Lorido
Dominik García-Lorido is the eldest of Andy García's children. She debuted on the silver screen in 2005, starring alongside her father in The Lost City, which he also directed. García-Lorido continued to pursue a career in acting and was included in several episodes of TV's Mr. Robot.
Dylan Penn
Dylan Frances Penn is the daughter of Sean Penn and Robin Wright. Penn has gone on to pursue a successful acting and modeling career. For the most part, Penn stays under the radar, leading a fun and carefree life alongside her friends and family.
Earvin "EJ" Johnson III
Earvin "EJ" Johnson III was born to Magic Johnson in 1992. Johnson was raised in the Pentecostal Christian faith, but he came out as gay at the age of 17 and left the church soon after. EJ has made a name for himself as a socialite and TV personality.
Gia Mantegna
Gia Mantegna is the daughter of Arlene Vrhel and actor Joe Mantegna. Mantegna took her talents to film television, where she played a variety of roles, such as Gina in 13 Going On 30 and Devin Levin on The Middle. She also had a recurring role on Criminal Minds.
Hayley Hasselhoff
Hayley Hasselhoff is an actress and plus-sized model known for her role as Amber on the ABC Family series Huge. Hasselhoff is the daughter of Pamela Bach and David Hasselhoff. She attempted to compete in The X Factor: Celebrity in October 2019, but she was eliminated at the audition stage.
Lily Mo Sheen
Lily Mo Sheen is the daughter of Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen. Beckinsale and Sheen split at the beginning of 2003. Sheen has acted in three movies—Everybody's Fine, Click, and Underworld: Evolution—all of which star her mother.
Ireland Baldwin
Alec Baldwin's daughter is now officially taller than him. Model, DJ, and activist Ireland Baldwin stands 6'2". Baldwin is a vocal advocate for animal rights and posed for PETA exactly twenty-four years after her own mother did the same.
Brooklyn Beckham
Brooklyn Beckham is the son of David and Victoria Beckham. He recently became engaged to Nicola Peltz. Brooklyn briefly studied photography and began modeling in 2014. In 2018, he lost much of his fanbase due to allegedly discriminatory posts on Instagram.
Sistine Stallone, daughter of Sylvester Stallone
Sistine Stallone is the daughter of veteran actor Sylvester Stallone. She has only starred in one film thus far, 2019's 47 Meters Down: Uncaged. Stallone signed to IMG models in 2016 and made the cover of Elle Russia in November 2017.
Hailie Jade Scott Mathers
If you listened to rap music in the 2000s, you know that Hailie is the daughter of famed rapper Eminem, or Marshall Mathers. After a tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship with Hailie's mother, Kim, the two had joint custody of Hailie. Hailie is extremely close to her father, who cites her as his "proudest achievement."
Lorraine Nicholson
Lorraine Nicholson is the daughter of Jack Nicholson and Rebecca Broussard. Lorraine took on a handful of minor acting roles as a child, and eventually landed a role as the best friend of Bethany Hamilton in Soul Surfer. She later graduated from Brown University with a degree in Literary Arts, inending to pursue a career in screenwriting.
Miles Robbins
Miles Robbins is the son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. He played the teenage son of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder on The X-Files. Robbins has stated that he is a strong supporter of psychedelic drugs.
Maya Hawke
Maya Hawke is the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. She has paved her way in the industry as a model, actress, and musician. Her breakout role was performing as Robin Buckley in the third season of Stranger Things.
Brielle Biermann
Brielle Biermann is the daughter of Kim Zolciak-Biermann, a singer and television personality on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Biermann has over one million Instagram followers, cementing her status as a socialite influencer.
Isabella and Olivia Giannulli
Lori Loughlin, also known as Aunt Becky on Full House, got into some serious trouble after bribing their daughters' way into USC. Loughlin and Olivia's father, Mossimo, were indicted for paying $500,000 for Olivia and Isabella's admission into the school. Ultimately, the two were banned from returning.
Rumer Willis
Rumer Willis is the eldest daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Willis has followed in her parents' footsteps with a successful acting career, appearing in a variety of films and television shows, as well as on Broadway. Most recently, Willis posed as Lion on The Masked Singer.
Eva Amurri
Eva Amurri is the daughter of director Franco Amurri and actress Susan Sarandon. Like many other celebrity children, she graduated from Brown University. Amurri took after her parents, first entering the film industry in 2002 and establishing her acting presence. She is now married to a former MLS player, Kyle Martino; the pair have two children together.
Damian Charles Hurley
Damian Charles Hurley is the son of Elizabeth Hurley and Steve Bing. Hurly, born in 2002, is a British actor and model. The 18-year-old's godparents include an extensive list of A-listers—Hugh Grant, David Beckham, Elton John, and Denis Leary.
Kate Hudson
It may come as a surprise to those who don't know, but Kate Hudson is actually the daughter of Bill Hudson and Goldie Hawn. Hudson rose to prominence through her roles in Almost Famous and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. She currently is the co-founder of Fabletics, a fitness brand.
Chance King
Chance King, the son of Larry King, has stayed out of the limelight for the most part. He briefly hosted Kid Pitch in 2010, a show about children's baseball which involved interviews with MLB players. Now, at the age of 20, King is dealing with the divorce of his parents, Larry and Shawn Southwick King.
Annie Starke
Annie Starke is the daughter of actress Glenn Close. Starke studied art history in college, later going on to appear on film and Broadway. Her godfather is Robert F. Kennedy Junior. As of March 2018, Starke adopted a labrador named Big.
Sophie Von Haselberg
Frederica Alohilani von Haselberg, otherwise referred to as Sophie von Haselberg, is best known for her role in Woody Allen's Irrational Man. The daughter of Bette Middler and Martin von Haselberg, Sophie is a member of the Haselberg German noble family and married into the aristocratic Guinness family.
Rainey Qualley
Rainey Quallley is the daughter of actress and model Andie MacDowell and rancher Paul Qualley. Rainey briefly appeared on Mad Men in 2015. She is most well-known for writing and singing music under the name Rainsford.
Jack Ramsay
Jack Ramsay is one of five children belonging to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Tana Ramsay, a schoolteacher. The 20-year-old appeared in his family's cooking show Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch in 2015. He has made cameos on a few other programs, including his father's show MasterChef. Jack has also been part of a number of theater productions.