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No industry is a stranger to nepotism. Powerful business families have passed down their billion-dollar empires for generations, and the children of tech innovators have launched their own start-ups. Likewise, actress Kate Winslet\u2019s children are now following in her footsteps, with the two Gen Zers pursuing Hollywood careers\u2014but she\u2019s adamant the Winslet name isn\u2019t opening any doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like the nepo baby term because these kids are not getting a leg up,\u201d Winslet told the BBC<\/em> in a recent interview while promoting her upcoming movie, Goodbye June<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Perhaps ironically, the film\u2019s screenplay which will hit Netflix on December 24, was written by her eldest son, 21-year-old Joe Anders.<\/p>\n And it wasn\u2019t lost on them how their collaboration could be perceived, with Winslet\u2019s son bracing for the nepotism allegations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Joe] would say to me, \u2018I don\u2019t want people to think that this film is just being made because you\u2019re my mom,\u2019\u201d Winslet continued. \u201cThe film would have been made with or without me. The script is so, so good.\u201d<\/p>\n The 50-year-old Academy Award-winning actress, estimated to be worth $65 million, slammed the nepo baby label altogether. She pointed out that children are naturally drawn towards what their parents do for work\u2014whether that be taking over a family business, or continuing a multi-generational lineage of doctors.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t necessarily translate to being able to actually get jobs and actually\u2026gain respect from your peers and people around you,\u201d Winslet added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of them have separately carved their own paths and been able to do that, and part of it actually is teaching them to ignore the white noise of silly terms like nepo baby, which you can\u2019t really do anything about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Two of Winslet\u2019s three kids have already made their Hollywood debuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n More recently, Anders starred alongside his mother in the 2023 film Lee<\/em>; but his first major-motion picture role was in the Oscar-nominated movie 1917<\/em>, directed by his father, Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes. The Gen Zer has taken on both of his parents\u2019 passions, with credits in both acting and screenwriting at just 21 years old. Writing scripts for Oscar-wielding actresses, and starring in films directed by the mind behind Skyfall <\/em>and American Beauty, <\/em>is no easy feat at such a young age.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Winslet\u2019s daughter, 25-year-old Mia Threapleton, has made a splash in the indie film scene. Earlier this year she had a starring role in Wes Anderson\u2019s The Pheonician Scheme<\/em>. And just like Anders, she had the opportunity to act alongside her mother; she fittingly played Winslet\u2019s daughter in the 2022 BAFTA-winning TV show I Am Ruth. <\/em>Threapleton has also starred in Apple TV drama series The Buccaneers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Winslet\u2019s youngest kid, 12-year-old Bear Blaze Winslet, has yet to star in any project.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the comments section of the BBC<\/em> interview posted on social media, many people were quick to point out Winslet\u2019s pull, citing \u201cprivilege\u201d and industry connections as being instrumental to her kids\u2019 success.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe seems to ignore reality: her children would almost certainly not have been able to become working actors if Kate weren\u2019t their mother,\u201d one commenter wrote. \u201cThere are hundreds of thousands of very talented young people out there, but they don\u2019t have wealthy or famous parents who can provide connections. That doesn\u2019t mean nepotism babies don\u2019t have the right to pursue something creative.\u201d<\/p>\n Family dynasties have cycled through generations of nepotism, from the Carnegies and Vanderbilts, to the Murdochs and Waltons. Even one of President Donald Trump\u2019s sons, Eric Trump, conceded that \u201cNepotism is kind of a factor of life\u201d\u2014but stipulated that it doesn\u2019t sustain his career running his father\u2019s real estate business.<\/p>\n Phoebe Gates, the 23-year-old daughter of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, also recently entered the tech scene. She co-created AI-powered shopping tool Phia while studying at Stanford, drumming up the idea with roommate and cofounder Sophia Kianni. It launched in April 2025, amassing more than 500,000 users and 5,000 direct brand partners by September. The venture raised $8 million in seed funding, drawing celebrity investments from Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, and Spanx\u2019s Sara Blakely. Despite all her success, she understands the advantages that come with being a Gates\u2014even if it\u2019s an uncomfortable truth.<\/p>\n \u201cI had so much insecurity and such a desire to prove myself,\u201d Gates said during an episode of her podcast, The Burnouts<\/em>. \u201cI came in, I was like \u2018I have so much privilege, I\u2019m a nepo baby.\u2019 I had so much insecurity around that. I feel like it\u2019s so hard when you\u2019re a freshman in college because you have no experience, you have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n And when it comes to passing down the family business, every successful parent has a different idea of when their kids are ready to take on their life\u2019s work. Earlier this year, real estate tycoon Jorge M. P\u00e9rez succeeded his $40 billion business to his sons. However, P\u00e9rez didn\u2019t simply hand over the keys to his empire; to sidestep nepotism claims and ensure that his company was in good hands, the entrepreneur made them prove their chops through 18 years of education and work. His kids had to get an MBA, work for a competitor for five years, and spend over a decade rising the ranks.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I felt particularly\u2014beginning with Jon Paul\u2014that they could come to work in the company, what I didn\u2019t want is for people in the company to feel that they were entitled, that the reason that I gave them a position is because they were just my sons,\u201d Jorge told Fortune<\/em> <\/em>earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nKate Winslet fans accuse actor of being in denial as her kids land coveted Hollywood jobs<\/h2>\n
From Eric to Trump to Phoebe Gates, \u2018nepo babies\u2019 are everywhere<\/h2>\n