Lily Rose Depp: The internet cares more about nepotism than casting directors

Lily Rose Depp is 23 years old and starring in the HBO series The Idol, where she plays a pop star alongside Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye. This is why Lily-Rose covers the December issue of Elle, she’s promoting The Idol and some other projects coming out in 2023. Lily-Rose has said very little about her father and all of his lawsuits and the credible claims of abuse and assault. She’s asked about her silence on her father’s many controversies and she side-steps the conversation for the most part. Which is her right – I don’t feel strongly for or against it, but I’m sure others will feel differently. Most of the interview ends up being about how Lily-Rose wants to be very mysterious, how nepo babies aren’t that bad and how she doesn’t want to live online. Some highlights:

She wasn’t exposed to the fame machine by her parents: “My parents protected my brother [Jack] and me from it as much as possible. I know my childhood didn’t look like everybody’s childhood, and it’s a very particular thing to deal with, but it’s also the only thing that I know.”

On her father’s controversies: “When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal…I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts. I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”

She doesn’t have Twitter: “because I don’t feel like there’s anything I want to say that I can’t say through my work”), and her Instagram is a sedate chronicle of her past and upcoming acting projects and Chanel ads. She went into her acting career with the idea that “I am here to do my job, and what I really want to put out into the world is my work.”

She’s not giving everything to the public. “It’s kind of a double-edged sword, because when you’re an artist, you make things in the hope that they’re going to connect with somebody. But then it also comes with this thing where people feel like they know you, even though they don’t. I’m not here to give myself to the world to be eaten alive.”

People hiding behind screens: “People think that you’re a video game character and say all these horrible things about you that they would never say to your face. I think we feel a little too protected by our screens. We spend a lot of time on the internet, and you start to feel like it’s this parallel universe where people in the public eye are just an animal in a zoo or a statue, and you can say whatever the f–k you want to them, even though you wouldn’t say it in person.

On “nepo babies”: “The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part. The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”

She thinks the “nepo baby” conversation is sexist: She does find it “interesting,” however, that she rarely hears anyone refer to a man as a nepo baby. “It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing. It just doesn’t make any sense. If somebody’s mom or dad is a doctor, and then the kid becomes a doctor, you’re not going to be like, ‘Well, you’re only a doctor because your parent is a doctor.’ It’s like, ‘No, I went to medical school and trained.’ ” Ever careful, she’s quick to add that she is by no means comparing her own work to that of someone in the medical field. “I just hear it a lot more about women, and I don’t think that it’s a coincidence.”

[From Elle]

First off, plenty of nepo babies are men! It’s just that the dude nepo babies tend to not be as “successful” as the women. Secondly, “I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part” is absolute horsesh-t. Nepotism gives a person a leg up at every stage, from education to family connections within the industry, to not having to work bad jobs to make the rent, to getting in the audition and hearing the casting agent say “oh, you’re so-and-so’s daughter?” Thirdly, the whole “you don’t call it nepotism when it’s about doctors” thing is completely asinine!! OMG. There is literally no comparison between doctors and model/actresses, Jesus. “I got a Chanel contract at the age of 16 ON MERIT, just like you got into medical school!” How completely out of touch.

Note: I will cover the models’ reactions to Lily Rose separately tomorrow (I haven’t written it yet).

Cover & IG courtesy of Elle.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

70 Responses to “Lily Rose Depp: The internet cares more about nepotism than casting directors”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Becks1 says:

    Oh lordy, can we come up with a name for this? Nepo-splaining or something? Because I swear if one more nepotism baby comes out and talks about how its not really nepotism….

    First – getting your foot in the door is HUGE. HUGE! It gives you a huge leg up! If your dad can call up his buddy at Disney or HBO or wherever and say “hey Lily-Rose is interested in that part” and they say “okay, send her over for an audition” (I dont know exactly how it works LOL) thats a huge advantage. Nepotism babies try to act like that’s not really an advantage when it absolutely is.

    second – doctors can absolutely benefit from nepotism. Every industry has it. One of my brother’s good buddies at med school – his father was high up in the university system and was the dean of the medical school. Of course that benefited him. I know so many people who just happen to have very successful jobs (i.e. high paying) working at the same company as their parents, regardless of their education or experience at the time they were hired.

    Nepotism is everywhere! In Hollywood it just tends to be more blatant and more obvious.

    • Katie says:

      I think Nepo-splaining is perfect. Or Nepsplaining. Or Nesplaining.

      • Frippery says:

        I think Nesplaining might be taken by “someone telling me why I need to buy coffee from George Clooney”.

    • C says:

      LOL. I can’t agree more. And getting your foot in the door IS the nepotism part!
      Nepotism out of the industry is a little thornier because in most industries an actual degree or qualification is required so it’s more difficult to wave that away (although it does happen).

    • Lemons says:

      Some of the models’ reactions are **Chef’s Kiss**. I can’t wait for Kaiser to cover it tomorrow.

      What nepo babies don’t understand is that they (especially at this young age) have never sacrificed to make it. They’ve never had to make a tough call or decide audition or get a real job and eat. It never works like that for them. And it’s crazy that they are in such a separate world that this never enter their mind when speaking on these things…

      Sure, you’re battling it out with all the other nepo babies…I guess that’s supposed to mean something. But at 5 foot nothing, you wouldn’t be modelling anything let alone a luxury brand/couture house unless your famous parents held your hand when the contract was signed.

    • KASalvy says:

      Nepo-casting is HUGE. We just wrapped a movie (with some *very* A-list and reputable actors) and were required to cast someone’s daughter as the third lead because the director is friends with her father and called up to say, cast my daughter in your movie. She didn’t have to audition or basically lift a finger and had the role from day one.

      She’s terrible in it and everyone knows it.

      • Lorelei says:

        I remember Tori Spelling claiming that she just showed up at the audition for 90210 and no one even knew she was Aaron’s daughter. As If. lmao.

      • Becks1 says:

        Wasn’t the story that she changed her last name so no one would know LOL.

      • TarteAuCitron says:

        KAS – oh no. 3rd lead would be hard to edit down in post, I guess. How frustrating for the cast and crew.

    • Sue E Generis says:

      So, no one can become a doctor except by their own efforts. While nepotism gets lots of kids accepted to med school, and getting a great residency, you’re on your own in the middle and obviously, it’s no cake walk.

      With regard to acting, it’s not just the parent getting the kid an audition. The money people can insist their kid gets cast, the famous actor can too as they can promise to take a future role or any number of other things in exchange.

      Lily Depp is completely oblivious, annoying, and like Brooklyn Beckham, a complete nothingburger.

      • GingerBiscuit says:

        This right here.
        Sure the kid can get into medical school, BUT if they fail out of med school/get bad grades, no one at a hospital or medical organization is going to hire them because of who their mother or father is. . .??
        She is a nothingburger in a crowd of nepo nothingburgers with Brooklyn Beckham leading the pack of Meh.

  2. Normades says:

    I’ve never seen her in anything so I have no idea if she can act or not. She is very generically pretty though. She was always going to get a Channel contract because her mom is an absolute icon in France. I think she actually owes her early career more to Vanessa than Johnny.

    • C says:

      I think she owes the entirety of it to her mother at this point because if her mother wasn’t such an icon I think her father’s antics would have damaged her career a lot more (even with people who like him – it’s all messy and distasteful professionally). Vanessa Paradis has been a Chanel muse for two decades, the idea they wouldn’t give her daughter something is laughable.

    • molly says:

      1000% this. She’s an absolute clone of her mother, with all the industry connections that come with it.

  3. Nixie says:

    Yes, I’m sure the five-foot-three girl with dead eyes and cankles would be a Chanel model if her parents weren’t famous. She got there because of talent y’all. I know that was catty, but is it so hard to be honest about your good fortune?

    Sorry, she bugs.

    • manda says:

      omg! cankles!!! I’m surprised I hadn’t noticed, but you are right. Ugh, I HATE when they put socks with heels like that

    • Lemons says:

      Lol, I didn’t want to mention the cankles, but yeah, she isn’t losing them.

    • LIONE says:

      She really does live in a world where she believes she’s so special and talented she would be cast and photographed even if she didn’t have famous parents.

      Girl, get your head out of your ass, please.

      Alongside you auditioning for the parts you got, you have girls with no famous parents or connections, more talented and beautiful than you ever will be. But who gets the foot in the door…..? Hm.

      They are so DELUSIONAL. Wish there’s was a law against casting children of famous actors, musicians etc. The industry would be so much more interesting with people from all types of backgrounds, and not just these privileged youngsters.

      This is why I don’t take the movie industry seriously. Spending millions of dollars on making these things, casting their friends and families and giving themselves awards like they saved lives. Ugh…

    • TarteAuCitron says:

      I usually save my ire for Kaia Gerber, because Cindy was drop-dead and charismatic as hell. Kaia just does not have her mother’s IT factor or any pizzazz of her own. Lily’s interview makes me want to roll my eyes to heaven. I doubt the poor bébé had to lug her portfolio on the Paris metro to audition at Chanel, if she even had to do that much.

      There are so many roles within the industry in which nepobabies could leverage those connections; producing, studio executives etc. They don’t necessarily have to be in front of the camera, and get compared to their famous parent or to their peers. I dunno.. if I were a 16 year old LA kid with famous parents, and brands were calling me all the time, I can’t say I wouldn’t be tempted. But not all nepobabies can stay famous: they can only be propped up for so long by their famous name.

    • FHMom says:

      Haha She is so tiny and def not model material. At least Kaia has the height.

    • Nikki says:

      I was jolted when I read your comment, because her lack of expression bothered me, but “dead eyes” kind of sums it up! It’s almost creepy…

  4. Jan says:

    Lily Rose got her arse handed to her this weekend by models, who had to earn their jobs.
    Waiting 8 hrs for a job and a nepo baby walked by with an entourage and get the job.

    • IForget says:

      YASSS I saw that! I’m always so grateful when people are given a chance to share their stories and give a look behind the scenes, and show how difficult it is to make it without money or connections or privilege.

      I’m sure Ms. Budget-Gwen-Stefani could be more, but she does not have any spark or work ethic, in my humble opinion. If she does, it’s not working for me. She’s lovely and pretty, but there’s no ‘there’ there, ya know?

      WHY is it so hard for people to understand their privilege? I’m white, I suppose conventionally moderately attractive? I’m thin, petite, I’m outgoing. I grew up in abject poverty and never had family or parental support, and raised my sibling. But I can recognise that my skin colour and size and demeanour etc benefitted me more than any of my WOC counterparts in various industries, even if they did have things I didn’t (money, actual parents who cared, etc). I worked in male dominated fields, and as hard as it was for women, it was exponentially worse for WOC; again, even if they had the benefit of loving families and money. I don’t know how anyone could say they got by solely on their own merit. Even me talking about not having family or parents, I had some teachers, friends, and community around me who are the reason I’m still here today. No man is an island. Rising tides lift all boats, and I am not here for this garbage from women old enough to know better (23 is not 16).

      Oof apparently I needed to get that off my chest. It saddens me to hear young people speak like this.

  5. C says:

    She is beautiful and I think a talented actress but predictably air-headed. As if there weren’t a gaggle of Estevez and Douglas men walking around Hollywood. The doctor comparison makes no sense, lol.

    • Lens says:

      When people say, when in defense of an actress, well she’s beautiful I always say, and?…so?.. I mean everyone’s beautiful to someone and its not a reason to be hired as an actress. I see English TV series where the actors look like most of the population and it adds to the realism they are going for, not taking away from it.

  6. Ann says:

    Homegirl should come do any regular job one day in her insanely privileged life. She could just answer phones for any office and realize how stupid she sounds. I’ve read plenty of nepotism beneficiaries talk like this and it always makes my eyes roll but this one is something. A family of doctors is an achievement that makes the world a better place, and she is… a Depp. Congrats.

  7. Stef says:

    Wow, straight out the gate and she’s clueless, out of touch, and comes across as an arrogant idiot.

    Honey, you’re a short woman who would NEVER get even a whiff of a chance to walk for Chanel without your famous parents. Without your parents, you’re nobody! She doesn’t even remotely acknowledge her privilege. Gross.

    Thats just my “secret garden of thoughts”…

  8. Amy Bee says:

    I don’t know why it’s so hard for these nepotism babies to just admit that they got a leg up.

    • Sue E Generis says:

      Because they don’t believe they have. Here’s the thing, The fish doesn’t know it’s swimming in the ocean.

  9. Coco says:

    This is the same person that said her her parents can you tell her to finish high school, she believes that she is a special snowflake. She is so far up her own butt that she can’t see the light of day.

  10. Lucía says:

    Her eyes are completely vacant. Not a lot seems to be going on inside her head either. She’s lucky she looks like both her parents. Well, she’s lucky about her entire life, really.

    • TarteAuCitron says:

      Yes, I can think of several nepos like Kendall, Kaia, who can’t emote to save their lives.

      Bella Hadid to me, seems like the one nepo model who actually seems to care about fashion, and takes it seriously.

  11. girl_ninja says:

    If you are a nepotism kid just own and show gratitude if you’ve had success. It really is that simple. And yes, she has absolutely every right to private life out of the spotlight, I would probably go this route too if I were famous or famous adjacent. But this notion of not using social media “because I don’t feel like there’s anything I want to say that I can’t say through my work” is bullshit. Your work is separate from your thoughts about other shit and photos of the moon, or a tree. An that is absolutely fine. She and Zoe Kravitz need to stop with that “I speak through my art nonsense.”

    • Pam says:

      Right on! So easy to say, “Thanks to my beautiful and talented mother, I was able to get my foot in doors that would have otherwise been sealed shut. I am lucky and grateful. And I will work extra hard to earn my place.”

  12. DARK says:

    First of all you probably need very good grades to even get in to a medical school. Sure if your dad or mom was a doctor that might be helpful because you could get help to study but you still have to put in the effort on tests that can and will be compared with other students tests. There is no sliding by if you don’t have what it takes. Of all the analogies she could have picked she went with a career that has absolute requirements that has to be fulfilled.

    • Mel says:

      Seriously? If your parent has connections, they can get you into med school, a good one, bad grades and all. You can graduate, get your MD do your residency and go work somewhere else where you make tons of money ( pharma) with your MD. Money is the great equalizer.

      • C says:

        That is true but I think DARK’s point is that an aspiring doctor already has much more important and difficult work to even complete let alone excel in, than anything Lily-Rose has ever done, and that comparing careers is completely useless when comparing to Lily-Rose’s “career” because there was no complicated requirement/accreditation needed for her to do the work she does – and at the end of the day even with a wealthy family that can get you into med school, you still have to have that on your resume. Nobody, not even a wealthy well-connected person, can just wake up and decide to be a surgeon or pilot with no credentials, the way Lily-Rose could decide to do with acting and modeling.

      • SomeChick says:

        you know what they call the person who graduates at the bottom of the class at med school?

        Dr.

    • R says:

      I do know a fair amount of people who got into med/law school and graduated without having the actual grades that’s required of people who don’t have any connections and or money. it’s really depressing what a right name and money can do for people.

  13. Freddy says:

    This clueless child….

  14. Tina Loman says:

    Well, she’s annoying. Let’s see if she can act. She’s one of the shortest models ever. According to her she got the Chanel job because she was right for the part not because her mother worked with Chanel for twenty years. She resembles her mother, but Vanessa Paradis had much more of a cute fairy look than her daughter. She isn’t as pretty as her mother was. I got the whole Vanessa Paradis sexy French lady with a gap thing singing in French. She doesn’t have the gap or the appeal in these pictures and most of the Chanel ones either. They were giving lots of famous kids prominent contracts at one point. That seems to have slowed a bit, but since Lourdes Leon isn’t giving us Stella McCartney we can get some weird sexually explicit pop. She can then tell us how she works so hard and her mother doesn’t believe in handouts while I look for something to wash my embarrassment at that awful video that I watched like an idiot.

  15. Genxjules says:

    Jamie Lee Curtis has said almost the exact same thing. And I think that they must feel like being on camera wouldn’t happen unless they were competent, but it leaves out the part of HOW they got on camera. Nepotism isn’t entirely how well (or not) you do the job, it’s who got you the interview. (As stated in the article). Maybe it’s a blindside for nepo kids because they don’t have perspective otherwise.

    • Lens says:

      Yes Jamie Lee Curtis was just as eye rolling and I like her. All about I had to work just as hard maybe more ONCE I got in. No clue that with acting getting in the door is more than half of it. This nepo-splaining needs to just stop. They just dig themselves in further

  16. AmelieOriginal says:

    Gosh she’s such a carbon copy of a young Vanessa Paradis it’s scary. She looks like her dad too but every time I see Lily Rose I expect her to break out and sing “Jo le Taxi” lol (Vanessa Paradis’s very first hit song at the age of 14, you can see the music video on Youtube).

    As for her saying nepotism babies are more of a female thing than a male thing–she’s got a bit of a point there. I feel like more is made about women of famous parents than men. It isn’t hard to acknowledge your leg up in the industry but also add that hard work is what got you there. But so many nepotism people in Hollywood are not good at what they do and are simply there due to who their parents are/were. I haven’t seen Lily in anything so no idea if she’s any good or not. I also feel it’s her right to stay silent on her father’s marriage to Amber Heard. She’s probably got a lot of complicated feelings about it.

    • Pam says:

      My mind always goes to that horrible Beckman son when I think of nepotism. Remember how he was launched as a photographer with a BOOK DEAL. Then as a model for BURBERRY. Insane.

      • TarteAuCitron says:

        Oh god, Brooklyn Beckham makes my blood boil. This weekend, he “invented” gin & tonic apparently… aaaaaarhgh.

  17. TIFFANY says:

    I was a patient at a family run clinic for years. Father was my pediatrician before I loved to the Gyno who was his daughter. She was smarter of not smarter than her father and very good at her job. I would rather have that Nepo than a high school dropout model telling me it’s the same thing.

  18. Stephanie says:

    I don’t know if I qualify as a nepo baby exactly but my dad 100% helped me get my current (AWESOME) job. He and I work at the same company and he told me about the job posting and knew the hiring manager though we are ultimately in different business units. Don’t care if I am a nepo baby – men have gotten jobs through their daddies for centuries and this is the best paying job I’ve ever had!

    • Becks1 says:

      Good for you! We should use our connections. No one is saying to not use your connections or your network, and I’m sure you are good at your job and overall qualified for it. If you have an advantage to use, use it. Is it nepotism? Maybe a little, but like you said men have been doing it for centuries.

      I said this below – I don’t care per se about people using their connections. I don’t have any in my industry/agency so I can’t use any, LOL. But especially in the super competitive worlds of acting and modeling, these nepo babies need to acknowledge that their connections gave them a huge head start over other people.

  19. Molly says:

    Male nepo-babies? Meet Brooklyn Beckham!

    • Mel says:

      OMG, he’s so sad. Now he’s an expert mixologist. Sigh… I can’t with him. Do these parents ever encourage their kids to do well in school? Or do these kids decide they’re going to drift through life because thy know their parents will pick up their slack?

  20. R says:

    Not giving her any passes, but it seems like she’s comparing herself with kids from her own social circle? (aka, rich and or famous) and in that case, she’s probably, ‘but so and so is getting way more jobs than I do and she doesn’t have famous parents’ and ‘I lose so many jobs/roles to other actresses in auditions’ and ‘isn’t that break out actress not from a working class and she’s getting way more deals than I do, so everything I book and get, must be because I’m good and hardworking’. I don’t think she understand the system of privilege at all. Having connections, having the resources to pay for the best and the know how in the industry, is all privilege.

  21. Otaku fairy says:

    As long as she’s not out there being gross about it, it’s fine that she doesn’t want to say anything about Depp. This one is actually his daughter and seems to recognize when her thoughts shouldn’t be shared. Some of these women who defend him have a whole list of abusive men they’ll protect online (him, Trump, Ye, Tory Lanez) and still want to position themselves as authorities on self esteem and morality.

  22. S808 says:

    Models are dragging her left and right. and it’s deserved. People tend to not care about nepotism if the person is actually good at the job that’s handed to them. PLENTY of actor/actresses/models are nepo babies and it’s never brought up because the talent speaks for itself.

  23. Mel says:

    What a clueless lamb she is. (Insert eye roll). Nepotism enabled you to leapfrog over other people to the head of the line. Getting your foot in the door is the important thing. Auditioning in front of people who are buds with your parents is an important thing. I think she’s very basic, and would be just another kind of cute girl, if she didn’t have that last name.

  24. D says:

    Between this interview and the one in NY Mag with Madonna’s daughter I just can’t anymore. Nepotism is a thing in many industries so just say “I’m so lucky that my parents work in the same industries that I’m interested in and could help me make contacts that helped me early in my career. I understand I had a leg up on everyone who doesn’t come from a famous family but I know the rest is up to me” or something like that. But no, it’s constant defensiveness and absolutely no acknowledgement of the privilege.

    • Pam says:

      Exactly! “Thanks to my beautiful and talented mother, I was able to get my foot in doors that would have otherwise been sealed shut. I am lucky and grateful. And I will work extra hard to earn my place.”

    • Becks1 says:

      Somebody (a nepobaby) actually had a good response along those lines not too long ago. Damn if I can remember who though.

      • C says:

        It was Heidi Klum’s daughter Leni. She basically said exactly what Lily-Rose should have, lol.

      • Becks1 says:

        YES that’s who it was. Her response was perfect.

        I think nepo-babies just get so defensive, which I can kind of understand. If someone said to me that I only had my success bc of my parents, I would be offended and take that personally. Using your connections isn’t a bad thing, and I don’t think its a bad thing for nepo-babies. But admit that! Stop acting like you’re working the hardest and its “only” a foot in the door in an industry where that foot in the door can mean everything.

  25. Cat says:

    “And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”

    OK, but what about your work portfolio merits a cover spot on ELLE magazine? I can’t name a single thing Lily Rose Depp has done, professionally, let alone something that would merit this kind of exposure. Casting directors care about booking actresses who can get on magazine covers and tout their projects. LRD knows this, which is WHY she’s agreed to grace the cover of ELLE magazine and sit for an interview.

    • C says:

      As best I can tell, HBO wants The Idol to be their new Euphoria so they’re doing these kinds of covers?

  26. els says:

    The way she and others nepobabies answer that question, it’s always with a lot of bitterness. In itself, if your parents can help you find a job, it is a chance. And acknowledge that isn’t bad. Why do they have to bark that they work their asses off to be on top when they already are.

    … And can she not compare her job to doctors’, they save lives. All she does is being “pretty” and act sometimes. nothing groundbreaking.

  27. Lens says:

    Seems I remember Lily Rose’s first acting job was with Kevin smith as director and he wrote a movie part for his daughter and her best friend irl, Lily Rose.

  28. serena says:

    I don’t blame her for how she answered about her dad or fame/socials, that is within her right and privacy. What I will judge is yet another asinine nepo-baby trying to explain to the public how it’s all just work and they’re not as privileged. PLEASE, ENOUGH.

  29. Aly says:

    It’s always the untalented ones like her and creepy Zoe Kravitz who try to downplay their privilege.

  30. Emily_C says:

    Joss Whedon is a nepo baby. So’s J.J. Abrams. Male nepo babies tend to go behind the camera, where they are given tonguebaths for being bad at what they do, and then destroy things.

  31. DrFt says:

    I am exceptional in my OWN RIGHT. CAN’T YOU SEE IT?
    if this dimwit doesn’t shut up right now…

  32. Jezzebeelzebub says:

    I’m just gonna say it. I don’t get her appeal. I’m sure she’s fine as a person.