George Clooney’s possessed a spot on Hollywood’s A-List since the mid 1990s.
But now Clooney is catching some heat.
And George Clooney got called for one sin that will make you do a double take.
Nepo babies debate dominates Hollywood
Being the child of a Hollywood star is suddenly nothing to brag about.
“Nepo babies” – short for nepotism babies – is now a slang term of derision on social media for the offspring of Hollywood stars.
Emma Roberts – whose father is actor Eric Roberts and her aunt is the legendary actress Julia Roberts – said the critics don’t know the half of it.
Roberts starred for several seasons on the TV series American Horror Story and says being the child of a Hollywood success comes with good as well as bad.
“People definitely have preconceived notions of you,” Roberts told podcaster Bruce Bozzi on his Table for Two show.
Roberts said being a “nepo baby” means you have to exceed expectations in auditions.
“I think there’s two sides of the coin, you know. People like to say, ‘You have a leg up because you have family in the industry,’ but then the other side to that is, you know, you have to prove yourself more,” Roberts added.
The double-edge price of fame
Hollywood is also a close-knit town, and if a director or producer has a sour experience with a family member, then that bad vibe transfers to you.
“Also, if people don’t have [a] good experience, maybe with other people in your family, then you’ll never get the chance,” Roberts added.
Roberts said that the public mythologized the idea of the Midwestern farm girl betting on herself to travel to Hollywood with just the money in her pocket in search of her big break and that the children of actors pay the price in that story, looking villains for taking a spot away from the deserving unknown.
“I think there’s something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story. And so if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, you know there’s kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this,'” Roberts stated.
Emma Roberts calls out George Clooney in discussion of nepo babies
Roberts joked women have it worse than guys, as no one calls George Clooney a nepo baby, even though his aunt was Rosemary Clooney, a singer who starred alongside Bing Crosby in the 1954 film White Christmas and who won the 2002 Grammy Lifetime Achievement award for her success in the recording industry.
“I always joke, I’m like, ‘Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon,'” Roberts exclaimed.
“I’m just kidding, but I feel like also, the point is that young girls, I feel like, get it harder with the … nepo baby thing. Like, I don’t really see people calling out, you know, sons of famous actors, not that they should be called out. I don’t think anyone should be called out for wanting to follow their dream,” Roberts added.
Roberts said anyone can check Wikipedia and IMDB to see all the roles you got and think it was due to your last name.
But Roberts added what people don’t see on the public record is the number of times casting directors reject you.
“People kind of only see your wins, because they only see when you’re on the poster of a movie. They don’t see all of the, like, rejection along the way,” Roberts told Bozzi.
“I think it’s important to talk about, otherwise people just think, ‘Oh, you know, everything has been so great and linear and easy,’” Roberts concluded.
