"The best thing James Brolin did for Hollywood was give us Josh Brolin."

I'm a Senior Staff Writer based in New York City, where I've been covering classic BuzzFeed-style content since 2020.

"I'm glad younger audiences got to know her as Lucille 2 in Arrested Development. She was a stitch."

"Cabaret was on TV the other day, and my girlfriend made me watch it — apparently it's her favourite musical. I only knew her as Lucille 2, but bloody hell, wild talent. And I also ended up discovering her mum was Judy Garland."

"I waited on him and his friends at a small pub in Kerry. Super nice guy, very polite. and he obliged all the young kids outside who wanted to take pictures."

"Same thing! His wife bought a car from me, and he came in with her. Absolutely LOVELY gent to deal with and they've sent customers my way, too!"

"He has such an everyman quality. I met him once in a hotel in Dublin. It was a Friday evening, and he'd just come in from rehearsing a play he was about to do with his father, The Walworth Farce. The bar was packed. He'd already done Harry Potter, Star Wars, About Time, etc. at that point. They'd been rehearsing all week, so he was probably tired. The way he was dressed down, and carrying a dog-eared bag, he looked like a college student. We sat and chatted for about an hour, and not one person recognised him, or even gave him a second look."

—u/xife-Ant"And Carrie was multi-talented. She was a script doctor on so many well-known movies. I miss her. :("

"Jared Harris!!!! I forget he’s a nepo baby; he is so wildly talented. He steals the show in everything I see him in."

"I forget even more often that his dad was the OG Dumbledore. Interestingly, as well, Harris played a great King George IV alongside the new HP Series Dumbledore as Winston Churchill, a role he killed so much he won an Emmy for it."

"I went to high school with him, and he definitely didn't have the attitude of a nepo baby. He seemed like any normal teenage guy in the drama club. His dad being famous was never really a thing; he was just like everyone else.

Random tidbit: the old school picture he shows in an episode of Schitt's Creek is his grade 9 school photo (taken in 1997)."

"Eugene is a fucking genius, so it’s not actually a shock that his son is too. And his daughter is excellent as well. Talent does run in families, just like any other trait!"

"She paid her dues, man. She landed the Olivia Benson role when she was 34 or 35; prior to that, she was a career guest star, B-movie actor, and recurring character actor. Then, when most people would consider an actor or actress past their prime, she wound up becoming arguably the most iconic television actress of the 21st century, all the while you never hear anything but positive things about her off-camera."

"She's played Olivia Benson so well and made such an impact that when they were filming in Central Park a few years back, a little girl got lost from her mom and walked up to Mariska (as Benson) and got help to reunite with her mom.

She only had the badge on and the usual dressy-casual detective look instead of an officer's uniform, but that girl still felt "this police officer will help me" vibes. Of course, Mariska took charge and helped."

"She has also done a bunch of advocacy for victims of rape and domestic violence because real women reached out to her because her character was so believable. That is pretty amazing."

"Hargitay has played Benson longer than anyone else has played a live-action character on television on American primetime."

"Selina Meyer is one of my top TV characters of all time, and Veep is probably up there with Peep Show and Righteous Gemstones for how much a TV show has made me laugh.

Rewatching Veep now is chilling now because real politics have somehow gotten more absurd than Veep parodied."

"I was looking for JLD. She could have done nothing with her life and been a billionaire from her part of the family inheritance, but became an outstanding actress and generated a lot of wealth through her own work."

"She is ridiculously talented. I've seen her live twice and omg."

"Her voice is angelic!!! I saw her in Manchester last year, and she's just as great live, too, ❤️"

"I've had the amazing pleasure of seeing him perform live on Broadway, and you really can't fake that kind of talent, especially in live theatre."

"His voice is phenomenal. I saw him in Parade, and it was brilliant. Of course, being a nepo baby will always give you access and a springboard, which means fairly mediocre people can have a career, but I think it's obvious when someone really could have (luck allowing) made it off their talent alone. Ben is an example of this."

"She is very underrated. I think people still associate her with 'Whip My Hair.' I love 'Curious/Furious,' and 'Wait a Minute' is such a jam. I wish more people would listen to her music!"

"He also has been incredibly self-aware and open about his privilege as a nepo baby, and I've always liked that about him."

"I don't even see him as Dennis Quaid's son; he's just such a talented actor in his own right."

"Having connections might get you in, but staying relevant still takes real talent. Jack Quaid definitely earned his place."

"I started re-watching ER and had forgotten that his (much more famous than he was at the time) aunt and cousin had guest-starred in the first couple of episodes."

"Listening to an acoustic version of 'The Distance' as I scroll past this."

"I really appreciate that he has his own sound and isn't just Van Halen Junior. I've rocked out to the first two Mammoth albums so much that he influenced some of my own songwriting."

"I scrolled down looking for this answer. Guy is a legitimately talented multi-instrumentalist. Love his own style and vocals too."

"Wolfgang Van Halen is the GOAT! So amazed with his talent, essential recording himself playing every instrument on the studio recordings and has a band for live performances. Mammoth was the original name of Van Halen and is an excellent tribute to his dad."

"Taylor Dearden is the daughter of Bryan Cranston. You wouldn't know that, because she doesn't trade on his name. She plays Mel in The Pitt. She's fantastic."

"Blew my mind when I found out she was his daughter. Absolutely love her in The Pitt. Mel is one of my favorite characters."

All you have to do is listen to another singer trying one of her songs, or listen to her National Anthem to understand she is the superior singer.

So many of the later generations don't realize what a big deal her interpretation of the National Anthem was.

It was considered a very, very big deal that she was going to sing it her way, and there was actually a lot of controversy around it. People saying there's a traditional way to do the National Anthem and that's the way it should always be done.

Honestly, the only other person that even comes close to the emotional amazingness is when Chris Stapleton did it. While Whitney's was just blow the doors off inspiring, his was almost pleading and sorrowful.

"Colin is legitimately insanely talented. He's made his chops in comedy and serious roles. He also didn't have it fully handed to him, like he started with much smaller roles and built a lot himself."

"She was up for an Academy Award this year, and deservedly so. She is arguably a better actor than either of her parents."

"People who want to say she's gotten good in the past couple of years need to watch Almost Famous. She's always been great. Whether she's been in movies people like or not, she's always been great.

"I really liked him in Black Mirror. 'Get out of my HEAD.'"

"I didn’t realize who he was until his character got mad and yelled. He sounded just like Kurt, and I put two and two together."

"Love her — comedic timing that's perfect!"

"I didn't know Ben was a nepo baby, but I guess it tracks. He's a comedic actor, and a lot of comedic actors are open about their stints in open mics and improv, and I've just realized I never heard Ben's come-up backstory before. Still love him though, and his style of comedy."

"I like that he owns up to it. What was his line at Adam Sandler's Mark Twain Award ceremony? 'I met Adam Sandler in New York in 1989. That was when I was hired on Saturday Night Live. All my years of blood, sweat, and tears paid off when I convinced my dad to call Lorne Michaels and tell him to hire me.'"

"She's not as talented as her dad (that bar is super high), but arguably more talented than her mom, who was no slouch. I dont really know any of her work other than playing Karen Filippelli and Ann Perkins, but she was great in both roles."

"Don't sleep on her work in Black Mirror. She co-wrote Nosedive with Michael Schur and, of course, Charlie Brooker, and she was the co-lead in Common People from the recent season."

"She's great in Angie Tribeca. It's a spoof cop show, like a modern Police Squad!"

"She's definitely FAR more talented than her father."

"You have to go back over 200 years to find a Barrymore in the dramatic arts/acting that isn't a nepo baby. Her ancestors were accomplished and close to legendary in theater since before the American Revolution. Her Great Uncle Lionel Barrymore, Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life, is barely the halfway point of how far back it goes."

"Dude is a Coppola but changed his surname so he could literally make a name for himself. Most people don't even know he's a Coppola."

"As a director, absolutely. Glad she gave up acting and found her true gift."

"I picked The Virgin Suicides at random, saw her name, and got a bit worried. Then the movie hit me like a brick. I was not ready for that."

"She's a very talented dancer, too. If you haven't seen her 'Kenzo World' video, check it out on YouTube. Sanctuary was a wild ride as well."

"I loved her in Kinds of Kindness! A lot of great micro expressions."

"She is a much better actress than her mother."

"He's not just a nepo kid that acts really well, he's also a childhood actor that didn't have any serious fuck-ups in the spotlight. (At least not that I'm aware of)."

"Dad was just a star of a TV show I can't even remember the name of. He was just a hunk with a face for middle-aged viewers to look at. He married Barbra Streisand, which is also of note.

The best thing James Brolin did for Hollywood was give us Josh Brolin."

"Josh Brolin. We don't think about it now, but he is one — the son of James Brolin. His first big role was as a teenager in The Goonies."

"Yes, he had the door open for him, but he absolutely proved he could act his ass off."

"Definitely was a wtf moment when I found out that her dad is Bono."

"Cyrus has gone so much farther than her dad, and I definitely think she's earned it. If she didn't have talent, she'd never have gone so far."

"She has a great voice, she can sing just about anything, and it will always sound good. I really liked her backyard sessions of music, basically just singing covers. 'Heart of Glass' and 'Edge of Seventeen' were amazingly done as well."

"Noah is a better singer than Miley, IMO. Noah is so underrated."

"She has a really different style, but yeah, she's really underrated!"

"Stellan really just looked at the acting industry and said, 'I shall populate this entire profession with 6'4" Swedish men who are unnervingly good at playing creeps.' And honestly? We thank him for his service."

"Each Skarsgard brings something unique to the table, which is so cool. So much talent in that family."

Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.