How many nepo babies are there in Hollywood? Spoiler: a lot, but it depends on how we define the category of industry offspring

In the universe of the star system, the word "nepo baby" has become something of the ultimate insult. A synonym for privilege and lack of talent, so much so that it sparked one of the most controversial magazine covers in recent years — New York Magazine's December 2022 issue, accompanied by an article titled "She Has Her Mother's Eyes. And Her Agent," which highlighted just how populated Hollywood's new generation is with industry offspring. What is surprising about nepo babies is that, alongside figures directly associated with their parents — such as Zoë Kravitz, Dakota Johnson, and Maya Hawke — there are others whose family ties went largely unnoticed for years, like Nicolas Cage, Grace Gummer, and George Clooney.

But how many nepo babies are there in Hollywood, really? According to a new report by Giggster, which analyzed 4,403 actors under 35 who appeared in films released in the United States between 2000 and 2025, as many as 1,242 have at least one parent in the industry — equal to 28% of the sample. A percentage that makes it all the more interesting to understand what belonging to this category actually means today.

Who can we really consider a nepo baby?

The most curious finding of the research concerns the criteria used to identify nepo babies. In Giggster's classification, it is enough to have at least one parent who works or has worked in the entertainment industry — encompassing not only actors and directors, but also producers, musicians, screenwriters, agents, and other industry professionals. A fairly broad definition, one that ends up including individuals with very different family backgrounds and levels of privilege.

Among the offspring analyzed, 60% have at least one parent who works in acting, 16% in directing, and 14% in music. Even more striking is the finding that 41% of nepo babies have both parents employed in the industry — a circumstance that makes the world of entertainment an integral part of their lives from childhood.

Hollywood is a family business

The presence of nepo babies on the big screen has grown especially in recent years. While during the 2000s and 2010s they generally accounted for between 6% and 8% of appearances in younger casts, by 2024 that figure had reached 16.6%. A rise that speaks to the enduring role family connections play in gaining access to the film industry.

Certain genres appear to be particularly populated by industry offspring: in romantic and family films, they account for around 47% of the under-35 performers considered, while in comedies the figure reaches 44%. Among the films with the highest concentration of nepo babies are The Good Girl (2002), with 71% of its young cast, and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025), with 67%. The ranking of nepo baby actors with the most film appearances also holds a few surprises. Leading the list is Scarlett Johansson, with 35 films counted, followed by Kristen Stewart with 27, while Keira Knightley and Seth Rogen share third place with 24 appearances each.

The real question, then, is understanding where the concept of industry offspring ends and where nepotism begins. Having a famous parent, growing up in a family that works in film, and landing a role through connections are different things — distinctions that the nepo baby label tends to blur together. Giggster's data measures the family ties of a selection of young actors, leaving open the most debated question of all: how much does a surname really matter when it comes to making it in Hollywood?