Michael Douglas has made clear that he does not appreciate being described as a “nepo” baby.
The Oscar winner, whose father was late Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, discussed the label while reflecting on his career and the challenges that helped shape his success. His memoir, One Helluva Ride, is released Oct. 6.
“Hollywood royalty. I mean… this ‘nepo’ thing really pisses me off,” Douglas told SmartLess podcast hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes.
Douglas argued that having parents help their children enter the same profession is hardly unique to Hollywood.
“I don’t know a career where a father or mother don’t try to help their son or daughter get into their business and this and that, and why they picked on this because of the well-known aspect of it,” he said.
Arnett compared Hollywood families to family-run businesses in other industries, pointing to plumbing companies that carry family names without attracting the same criticism.
“We don’t chase down when we see a plumbing truck that says McGlinnen & Sons. We don’t go, ‘Hey, you nepo ass,’” Arnett said.
Bateman agreed that the practice extends beyond entertainment.
“It’s not exclusive to the entertainment industry. There are sons and daughters everywhere,” he said.
“But they make it like it’s, we’re the only ones, you know?” Douglas added.
When Bateman asked Douglas what advice he would give to future generations dealing with the “nepo baby” conversation, Douglas emphasized the importance of finding strong material rather than simply expecting opportunities.
“Recognizing good material. I mean, not counting on it…getting something,” said the Wall Street star.
“The problem we all have is we don’t play an instrument, or we don’t paint, or we don’t write,” he said. “We’re standing there. But a good piece of material, man, a good piece of material helps things along well.”
Douglas also discussed the qualities he inherited from his father, who died in 2020 at 103.
“He had incredible stamina, tenacity, was a motherf—er, and was just really, really tough and could hang on there.”
For Douglas, rejection is an unavoidable part of working in the entertainment industry.
“This is not a business [for you] if rejection is gonna bend you over. Rejection is the fuel. It makes you tougher and stronger, and I think you have to create your own identity you have to trust in rather than try to become an image of a reative.”
In One Helluva Ride, Douglas writes about his father and the burden of carrying the legacy of the Lust for Life star.
“Much of my story is about finding my way in the world as I carried the weight of my legendary father’s legacy,” Douglas writes. “How could it not be? After all, I am the son of Spartacus.”
He also reflects on the relationship between his father and grandfather, writing: “The lack of attention that dad got from his father probably was a large part of his desire to be somebody and to show his father.”
One Helluva Ride hits bookstores Tuesday, Oct. 6, and is available for preorder wherever books are sold.
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