Children of Hollywood stars who've pursued careers outside of the spotlight

Daily Mail​

11-05-2025

There are an array of celebrity offspring who have forged surprisingly normal paths outside of fame - including Arnold Schwarzenegger 's realtor son Joseph Baena, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's artist daughter Bella and Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa's firefighter son Samuel.
Last month, actor Ben Affleck made headlines by revealing his oldest two kids - 19-year-old Violet and 16-year-old Fin both have 'regular jobs' - despite his and ex Jennifer Garner 's storied Hollywood careers.
Actors like Maya Hawke (daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman), Lily-Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis) and Jack Quaid (son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan), have all followed their famous parents.
JOSEPH BAENA - Son of Arnold Schwarzenegger
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Banea, 27, was thrust into the spotlight when it was revealed that he was the son of Schwarzenegger, 77, and his former maid Mildred Patricia "Patty" Peña, in 2011.
At first, it seemed he may have tried to follow his father's fame, appearing in a 2016 short film 'remake' of Terminator 2, playing his father's iconic Terminator character.
He also seemed keen on following Arnold's bodybuilding footsteps as well, frequently spotted at the iconic Gold's Gym in Venice while dabbling in fitness modeling here and there.
The hulking 6-foot-2-inch Baena even appeared on ABC's Dancing With the Stars in 2022, paired with Daniella Karagach, though the duo were eliminated in 11th place.
While he's still pursuing both fitness and acting, Baena also got educated, graduating from Pepperdine University in 2019 with a degree in business.
He used that degree to break into the realtor world, passing the state boards and earning his State of California Realtor's License in 2022.
The multi-talented Baena is affiliated with Aria Properties, with a separate Instagram handle - @jb.properties - devoted just to his real estate ventures, including a $1.365 million sale he made for a Santa Monica condo in November 2024.
Although the realtor is still acting - with three films in various stages of production including Dog Patrol with Cuba Gooding Jr. (September 26, 2025) - Baena is quite comfortable away from the spotlight as well.
MERCY JAMES - Daughter of Madonna
Occupation: Makeup Artist Assistant
While Madonna's most famous child Lourdes has followed her mother into the spotlight as a model and singer, her 19-year-old daughter Mercy James has not.
The 66-year-old singer first applied to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James from Malawi in May 2009, though the African country rejected the application because Madonna did not live there.
She re-applied a month later and in June 2009 she officially adopted her daughter, who has been quietly working as a makeup artist assistant.
She has also been dabbling in other artistic pursuits, with Madonna calling her, 'a talented musician, an accomplished photographer and honestly, the most sensible of all my children,' in a post celebrating her 19th birthday in January.
'You are the one that everyone goes to for advice, or a shoulder to cry on. You hold a special place in the hearts of everyone that knows you. Especially me,' Madonna added.
Little is known who she works for, though her Instagram has posts from London, Greece and Tokyo over the last year.
She has also been working for her mother's foundation Raising Malawi, with a hospital in her homeland named for her - The Mercy James Centre.
It's unclear if Mercy James has plans on following her singing ambitions into a career like her mother before her.
SURI CRUISE - Daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
Occupation: College Student
Suri became a household name a birth, when her parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes welcomed her in April 2006, though she seems content out of the spotlight.
She was the only child of Cruise and Holmes, who were married from 2006 to 2012, and practically grew up in the spotlight.
The 19-year-old, like so many nepo babies before her, has dabbled in creative pursuits while growing up.
Suri starred in several high school plays, including starring roles like Morticia Addams in The Addams Family: A New Musical.
She also made her pro singing debut, performing a cover of Blue Moon, which played over the opening credits of her mother's 2022 film Alone Together, which Katie starred in and directed.
Suri is currently a freshman college student at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, studying in their prestigious School of Drama.
While her major has not been publicly declared, Katie did tell Town and Country that Suri plans to study acting and dance.
If she does decide to pursue an acting career, it seems she wants to forge her own path through her education.
BELLA KIDMAN CRUISE - Daughter of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Occupation: Artist
Tom Cruise's oldest child - 32-year-old daughter Bella - has shied away from the spotlight as well.
Tom and his then-wife Nicole Kidman welcomed Bella in December 1992, though despite the massive star power of her parents, Bella has rarely found the spotlight.
Both Cruise and Kidman have respected her privacy, with Kidman stating in 2018: 'I'm very private about all that. I have to protect all those relationships. I know 150% that I would give up my life for my children because it's what my purpose is.'
While her parents continue to star in huge movies and TV shows, Bella has found her calling as an artist.
She maintains her own website -BellaKidmanCruise.com - where she sells art prints, t-shirts-pins and tote bags.
Bella does have a verified Instagram with over 56K followers, she hasn't posted in nearly a year, since early July 2024.
While Bella doesn't seem to be following either parent into acting, she did follow father Tom into Scientology.
She said in a 2019 letter that Scientology was 'exactly what I needed' as she trained to be an auditor.
RUBY GUEST - Daughter of Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest
Occupation: Video Editor
Jamie Lee Curtis and husband Christopher Guest adopted two daughters - Annie (born in 1986) and Ruby (born in 1996), with Ruby straying from the spotlight.
Ruby did make headlines in 2021 when she came out as trans, with both parents strongly supporting the decision.
Jamie Lee admitted in 2021: 'It's speaking a new language. It's learning new terminology and words. I am new at it. I am not someone who is pretending to know much about it.'
She added: 'And I'm going to blow it, I'm going to make mistakes. I would like to try to avoid making big mistakes.'
It's been reported that she works as a video editor for a YouTube gaming personality, though that gaming personality has not been identified.
JACK DEPP - Son of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
Occupation: Bartender
DailyMail.com revealed in December that Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis' son Jack has been working as a bartender in Paris.
The 22-year-old is the youngest of the two children shared by Depp, 61, and Paradis, who were married from 1998 to 2012, with the other being 25-year-old actress Lily-Rose Depp.
Unlike his big sister, Jack has eschewed the actor lifestyle his parents and sister have embraced, working in a trendy Lebanese restaurant called L'Area in the Bastille quarter.
DailyMail.com's report from December revealed that Jack was, 'working shifts behind the bar and also in the downstairs kitchen rustling up a mean mixed mezze.'
There have been pictures of him working at the restaurant posted on their social media pages, along with footage of Lily-Rose making drinks behind the bar.
Jack spent two years working in L'Area before leaving, but owner Edouard Chueke expects him to return later next year.
Mr Chueke told DailyMail.com: 'Jack is a great guy; he keeps out of the limelight, but worked here behind the bar and in the kitchen.
'He was a good employee, he left a few months ago but I expect him back later next year. Good staff are hard to find,' Chueke said.
SAM SPRINGSTEEN - Son of Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa
Occupation: Firefighter
Bruce Springsteen is about as iconic an American singer as it gets, though none of his three children pursued the limelight.
The 75-year-old rocker and his 71-year-old wife welcomed three children, Evan, 34, Jessica, 33 and Samuel, 31.
Evan was the only one of the kids to follow a musical career, working as a music programmer, currently with Apple and previously at Sirius XM.
The middle child Jessica became an Olympic equestrian, winning a silver medal in the team competition, who is also a professional show jumper and brand ambassador for Polo by Ralph Lauren and Gucci.
However it was Sam that truly embraced his father's blue collar mentality, becoming a firefighter for Jersey City, New Jersey in 2021.
It wasn't an easy road to get there either, with Sam graduating from Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014 and working as a volunteer firefighter for three different stations before getting the job in Jersey City.
'It was a long road, he's very dedicated, quite a few years and we are just excited for him today,' Sam's proud father Bruce said in 2021.
He also has the distinction of making The Boss a grandfather, welcoming daughter Lily Harper with his wife, Alex Reph, in 2022.
IRELAND BALDWIN - Daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger
Occupation: Homemaker in Oregon
Ireland Baldwin at first seemed poised to follow in her mother's footsteps before retreating from Los Angeles for a quiet family life in Oregon.
The 29-year-old signed with IMG Models at just 17 years of age in 2013, gracing the covers of fashion magazines like Elle and Vanity Fair.
She made her acting debut alongside her mother Kim in 2014's Grudge Match, though she didn't catch the acting but like her mother.
'I can't act for s***. It's not in my blood,' Baldwin admitted on Emily Ratajkowski's High Low with EmRata podcast last year.
She ultimately settled down with musician RAC (born Andre Allen Anjos), welcoming their first child, a daughter, in May 2023.
She moved to Portland, Oregon with her family in 2020, adding that she, 'couldn't handle' Hollywood and 'bowed out of that world.'
'I just really couldn't be in LA anymore. It started to take a toll on me, and especially over Covid it's just become a really dark place,' she said.
'LA can be a wonderful place but it's also a trap. It's filled with a lot of people who definitely don't have your best interest,' Ireland added.
PARKER O'DONNELL - Son of Rosie O'Donnell
Occupation: Marine Corps
Comedienne Rosie O'Donnell has adopted five children, the first of which was her son Parker, who chose a field her mother couldn't have imagined: the military.
The 63-year-old adopted Parker in 1995 when he was just an infant, who grew up to be a military aficionado.
'Truth is, since he was a little boy, that's his area of interest. The same way I love [Barbra] Streisand and Bette Midler and entertainment, he can tell you any general in any war, what kind of tanks they had, what the battles were like,' she said in 2011.
He ultimately convinced his mother to send him to Valley Forge Military Academy as a teenager in 2011, which lead to his career in the Marines.
During an appearance on The View in 2014, O'Donnell joked, 'How do you annoy your left-wing, liberal, pacifist mother? You become a big military man.'
He also revealed on Instagram that he became a certified mixologist in 2016, and now it seems he may be trying to follow his mother's footsteps.
He shared on Instagram in late January that he graduated from the Los Angeles Film School, though it's not clear what kind of film career he is pursuing.
'Graduated today. Thank you to all my instructors and advisors who helped me finish my degree. Thanks to my family for helping me have the opportunity to complete my higher education,' he said in the caption.
TOMMY ZISSO - Son of Erika Jayne
Occupation: LAPD police officer
Erika Jayne is best known for her involvement in the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills franchise but her first marriage to Thomas Zizzo has produced one of L.A.'s finest.
The 53-year-old reality star tied the knot with Thomas Zizzo in December 1991, welcoming Tommy in 1992, though they split soon thereafter when Erika was just 20.
She moved to Los Angeles shortly after the split, leaving Tommy with his father in New York, a decision she said in 2018, 'was the biggest risk I've ever taken.'
'I was panicked, but I was committed to succeeding. And I knew he'd end up here with me eventually,' she said.
Tommy is now 32 and an LAPD cop, with Erika hinting that he'd likely never make an appearance on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2019.
'Probably not. I don't think so, no. You know he has a private life; he's a police officer,' she said at the time.