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For many Hollywood A-listers, acting runs in the family. A handful of actresses have worked with their children on the big and small screen.
Andie MacDowell, Meryl Streep and Demi Moore are all examples of celebrity moms who have shared the screen at one point or another with their children.
In honor of Mother’s Day, here are just a few celebrity moms who have acted with their children over the years.
Many mothers have worked with their children on different movie and TV projects. (Rich Polk/Getty Images for Environmental Media Awards; Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
7 CRAZY CELEBRITY MOTHER-DAUGHTER LOOKALIKES
Andie MacDowell and Margaret QualleyUma Thurman and Maya HawkeLeslie Mann with Maude and Iris ApatowMeryl Streep and Mamie GummerDemi Moore and Rumer WillisAngelina Jolie and Vivienne Jolie-PittBlythe Danner and Gwyneth PaltrowDiane Ladd and Laura Dern
1. Andie MacDowell and Margaret Qualley
MacDowell’s daughter Margaret Qualley, who she shares with ex-husband Paul Qualley, is the star of the Netflix show “Maid” (2021). Qualley was nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Alex, a single mom who leaves her abusive boyfriend and takes on a job as a maid to stay afloat and support her young daughter.
MacDowell is also on the show and plays the mother to Qualley’s character, Paula.
Both MacDowell and Qualley have discussed what it was like working with each other for the limited series television show.
“Every moment was precious for me,” MacDowell said of working with Qualley during an interview with USA Today. “I really wanted to do a good job because it meant everything to me because I was scared it would never happen again.”
Qualley has also spoken fondly of working with her mother on the show.
Andie MacDowell, right, had a supporting role in the Netflix series “Maid,” starring her daughter Margaret Qualley. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
“You walk in the room, and you have your mom playing your mom-that’s the biggest cheat in the world,” she told USA Today. “That goes all the way from the inherent eye rolls that are built in when your mom says something-and then also, later in the series, there’s a moment where Paula tells Alex that she’s proud of her. It felt like my mom was telling me that she was proud of me, and it was just one of the coolest things that’s ever happened to me.”
Qualley has also been in a number of other films and shows, like “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (2019), “Fosse/Verdon” (2019) and “My Salinger Year” (2020).
2. Uma Thurman and Maya Hawke
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke’s daughter Maya Hawke rose to fame after joining the cast of the Netflix series “Stranger Things” to play Robin Buckley.
The 2023 summer thriller, “The Kill Room” stars both Thurman and her daughter. This likely will not be the only movie the two star in together.
Director Quentin Tarantino has floated the possibility of casting Hawke to play Thurman’s on-screen daughter in “Kill Bill: Vol. 3,” if the movie comes to fruition.
Uma Thurman, left, and her daughter Maya Hawke were in the 2023 movie “The Kill Room” together. (Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Hawke stars in other movies like “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” (2019), “Mainstream” (2020) and “Fear Street” (2021).
3. Leslie Mann with Maude and Iris Apatow
Leslie Mann has worked with both of her daughters in a number of films. Mann shares daughters Maude and Iris Apatow with filmmaker husband Judd Apatow. In fact, all three of the movies starring Mann and her daughters were ones where the whole family was involved, as they were all directed by Judd Apatow.
The sisters have acted with their mother in three different films, their biggest being “This is 40,” where they had the most screen time. In the movie, the two played Sadie and Charlotte. The daughters were also both in “Knocked Up” (2007) and “Funny People” (2009).
Maude went on to star in the television drama series “Euphoria” (2019), where she plays Lexi Howard.
Leslie Mann, center, worked with both of her daughters in a handful of movies directed by her husband, Judd Apatow. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
4. Meryl Streep and Mamie Gummer
The mother-daughter duo were first in the 1986 movie “Heartburn” and then acted together again in the 2007 movie “Evening.”
The 2015 movie “Ricki and the Flash” is the most well-known film starring the pair. Streep plays a musician who gives up her career to rejoin her family. Mamie Gummer plays Streep’s daughter in the movie.
Streep shares her daughter with husband, Don Gummer. The two have been married since 1978. They have four children together; Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa.
5. Demi Moore and Rumer Willis
Moore acted with her daughter Rumer Willis in numerous movies.
They were first in the 1995 movie “Now and Then” and were in “Striptease” the next year.
More recently, Willis was in seasons three and four of the show “Empire” in 2017 and 2018, when her mom guest starred in multiple episodes.
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“I mean, we’re there and, since she’s a regular, and I’m just a guest. I’m in the guest bedroom of her apartment – she gets the king-sized bed,” Moore told ET in 2017 of sharing an apartment with her daughter in Chicago while filming the show.
Rumer Willis, left, and her mom Demi Moore were in multiple episodes of the TV show “Empire” together. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
“I love it, we have a great time,” Willis toldthe outlet. “Honestly, even though we pretty much live, I would say,10 maybe 15 minutes away from each other in L.A., with your schedules,you sometimes don’t end up getting to spend the quality time with each other. And so,being able to have time to go out and eat and really spend time with each other has been really amazing.”
Willis is the daughter of Moore and Bruce Willis. The couple was married from 1987 until 2000. They also share children, Scout and Tallulah.
6. Angelina Jolie and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt
Angelina Jolie played the lead role in the movie “Maleficent” (2014), where her young daughter Vivienne played young Princess Aurora in an adorable appearance.
Jolie told Entertainment Weekly during the time of the film’s release that the young daughter, whom she shares with ex-husband Brad Pitt, played the role because she was the only one of the kids who was not afraid of her character.
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, left, had a small part in the movie “Maleficent,” a film in which her mother, Angelina Jolie, had the leading role. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
“We think it’s fun for our kids to have cameos and join us on set, but not to be actors. That’s not our goal for Brad and I at all,” Jolie told the outlet in 2014. “But the other 3 and 4-year-old [performers] wouldn’t come near me. It had to be a child that liked me and wasn’t afraid of my horns and my eyes and my claws. So it had to be Viv.”
7. Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow
Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow have worked together on multiple movies and shows.
They first appeared together in the 1992 TV miniseries “Cruel Doubt.” In 2003, Paltrow had a leading role in the movie “Sylvia,” a film in which her mother too appeared.
Danner is widely known for her role in the comedy movie series “Meet the Parents,” while Paltrow stars in the Marvel franchise as Iron Man/Tony Stark’s love interest, Pepper Potts. Paltrow also founded the lifestyle and wellness brand Goop.
8. Diane Ladd and Laura Dern
Laura Dern and her mother Diane Ladd have acted together on many occasions, starting with Dern’s uncredited appearances in movies starring Ladd, like “White Lightning” (1973) and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974). Ladd was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 1974 film.
Laura Dern, left, and her mom, Diane Ladd, have worked side-by-side many times throughout their careers. They even released a book together in 2023. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
Years later, they worked together in even more movies, including the 1990 film “Wild at Heart,” another that Ladd earned an Academy Award nomination for, and the 1991 film “Rambling Rose.”
In 2011, the mother-daughter duo starred in the HBO series “Enlightened.”
They also teamed up to write the book “Honey, Baby, Mine,” which was released in 2023.
Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.
