Ed Begley Jr. & his daughter Hayden took the subway to the Oscars

Ed Begley Jr. has been a committed environmentalist for decades. His environmental activism went from being seen as a widespread joke to something seen as incredibly cool. He has two daughters, and he raised them to be environmentalists too. Well, Ed Begley Jr. is a member of the Academy and he got an invitation to this year’s ceremony, and he got a plus-one. Apparently, his wife begged off and so he brought his daughter Hayden Begley, who is about 23 years old. She documented their Oscar trip and it’s been going viral this week, because the Begleys are amazing people.

If you want to see Hayden’s Instagram, go here. I’m including a tweet with the video below, just because I think it’s easier to watch. Ed and his daughter traveled TO the Oscar ceremony by subway, because yes, there are subways in LA. They had to walk for a bit to actually get to the auditorium and Hayden was thankfully wearing flat shoes. She also got a hole in the back of her dress, which was then fixed by someone in the ladies’ bathroom. She was given a pretzel and she was happy. Then her dad lost her flat shoes and he bought her a pair of flip-flops for the subway journey home and she honestly loved that look better.

Please, this is the cutest thing. I love that they’re getting so much attention for taking the subway, and that Hayden is getting so much attention for being good at social media. And honestly? Hayden’s Oscar look ATE. She looked incredible!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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29 Responses to “Ed Begley Jr. & his daughter Hayden took the subway to the Oscars”

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  1. Bee says:

    Ed has always taken transit. He was interviewed on a bus in LA for Interview magazine back in the ’90s.

    • Lizzie says:

      Didn’t he have a short lived HGTV show? I remember an episode where his wife wanted to get new kitchen countertops and he wouldn’t because the existing would go into the landfill. So, she started looking at new houses instead. I think he gave in on the countertops.

  2. Lizzie says:

    I just love her video. She seems very sweet and a beauty.

  3. Moxylady says:

    I had no idea they had a subway. And isn’t everyone always complaining about traffic? Wouod the subway or buses help with that?
    Those flip flops are so cute.

    • Nicole says:

      We have a pretty good subway system, but the transit network is still pretty inadequate. They are currently building it out more, but we have a long way to go in connecting the exurbs. Plus, there are those who really don’t want to give up their cars. Angelinos love their sprawl.

      • Noodle says:

        My husband used to take the subway from Long Beach to DTLA for his work. He worked odd hours (late morning to late night) to avoid traffic rush and crowded trains. One night a homeless man started singing “Kill Whitey on the Train” and he was the only white man there. None of the other passengers joined in they generally ignored it, but my husband was freaked out and decided to look
        For a job closer to home.

  4. Abby B says:

    They are both adorable. What a testament too to their relationship that amongst all of Hollywood’s elite, this 23 year old is super comfortable not taking herself seriously. Totally happy to ride/walk and get a little worse for wear, and enjoy her dad. Such a stark contrast to the Kardashians who require private standing buses to pull up directly to the red carpet with a while makeup team coiffing them nonstop.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    I knew that L. A. has a subway because of the movie Speed. Ed Bagley has always been an environmental advocate. I remember this way back in the 90’s. He will leave a great legacy behind as he and his wife have raised eco minded children.

    • lucy2 says:

      Speed and the TV show Alias, and every time I’d think oh yeah, they do have a subway…

  6. Nicki says:

    Thank you for sharing this – it’s delightful. Ed is on Young Sheldon and he’s very funny. I remember once, when his environmentalism was still considered eccentric, he showed how his family’s weekly trash bag is small enough to fit in his glove compartment. Still amazes me.

  7. Nicegirl says:

    Awesome!! So cool 😎

  8. Emmi says:

    They seem like the cutest father/daugher duo!

    Yeah, LA has a subway and we took it. I’m not sure how a subway that’s only a few decades old can be that awful but we didn’t want to Uber everywhere. I’ve been taking public transport in many many European countries/cities my whole life, I’ve also take the NYC subway. I thought how bad can it be? But LA was just awful. Why does it stink so horribly???

    • Sandra says:

      Because it’s overrun by homeless people and drug addicts? There have been 22 overdoses on the LA subway since January. Hollywood virtue signaling.

      • Emmi says:

        I would not say overrun, no. It is certainly a place where you find some of LA’s unhoused population but I’ve seen that in other cities. I was surprised how empty it usually was. What came first, the lack of passengers or the state of it? It didn’t feel safe to be honest.

      • Christine says:

        I started taking my son on the subway when he was 3, he absolutely loves it. There hasn’t been one time that I’ve felt unsafe. The buses are a different story.

        PSA: Taking the Expo line to Santa Monica is life changing. I can’t stand anything related to driving near the 405, and now I don’t have to worry about it.

  9. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    This is quite brilliant.

  10. HeyKay says:

    I like all of this!
    EB, Jr. is wonderful on Young Sheldon.
    His daughter is a beauty, looks wonderful. How nice to see a female not Kardashian’ed to all to heck.
    More power to them!
    I hope they start a new trend “How to be cool”

    I think it’s terrific that they are promoting public transportation.

  11. LeahTheFrench says:

    That was a really sweet video.

  12. Meredith says:

    I guess I thought for some reason LA had too many earthquakes for a subway system? I’m sure the engineers were extremely careful about it though. It would certainly be useful, I hope it gets more funding, and public transportation in general. In my part of the USA all we’ve got are terrible buses.

  13. FilmTurtle says:

    I wonder how hard it was to get past security, since they just walked up? It’s impossible to get around those few blocks every year.

    Ed is the real deal; maybe two decades ago, I was watching some kind of environmental, Earth Day type of show, and the host (MTV?) simply walked up to Ed’s house and challenged him on his claim that he only produced enough waste material in a week to fit inside the glove compartment in his car. So Ed literally went and got the garbage for the house and shoved all of it into the compartment. It was a tight squeeze, but it fit.

  14. FHMom says:

    I saw him walking in NY decades ago. He was wearing a jacket that had his name emblazoned on the back. It was so odd. I figured he really wanted to be noticed.

    • Jenn says:

      AHA! One afternoon I was washing my hands in the toilets at LAX, when I noticed that the young woman at the next sink seemed familiar. I opened my mouth to ask if we knew each other, then closed it again when I realized that her satin bomber jacket said “MICUCCI” across the back in large letters. Aha! She was, in fact, comedian Kate Micucci. Nodding, I wordlessly returned to washing my hands. She saw me out of the corner of her eye and smiled to herself. The jacket had done its job!

      I’ve always found that so hilarious (and a little bit baller tbqh), and the fact that Ed Begley, Jr “did it first” is just delightful to me — thank you for sharing it. Some people are reeeeally distinctive but not so “famous” that you could place them right away, and I imagine the jacket eliminates needless social interactions when someone is in a rush.

  15. Juniper says:

    Ed Begley was in the great documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car.” It’s from 2006. I’d like to rewatch it now to see how far we’ve come.

  16. Fuzzy Crocodile says:

    I too would be happy if given a pretzel.

  17. Truthiness says:

    Sweetest video ❤

  18. TreeHugger says:

    What a sweet video & amazing family! I love how they’re so proudly holding up their subway cards. And Hayden is naturally beautiful—on the inside too, it seems. How refreshing to see that in a 20-something Hollywood daughter of a famous actor. The Begleys have a new fan!

    The subway wasn’t yet completed when I left L.A. & I haven’t had the chance to ride it in subsequent visits. Friends there tell me it’s pretty dirty, often smelly & that they didn’t feel safe alone. That’s really too bad after all the money, meticulous planning, effort, years of labor & heated politics that went into building it. They need to add/step up patrols & clean it up. Public transportation in sprawling L.A. was nearly non-existent until the subway, & it’s my understanding that it doesn’t go many places & desperately needs to be expanded. At least when I lived there, the bus system was a joke (& scary). Buses were never on time, sometimes didn’t show at all, sometimes altered their routes with no warning or explanation (I got lost a few times), were filthy, & I swear had the meanest, rudest drivers. I had to rely on them when I was living in West L.A. & it once took me 5+ hrs to get to Sherman Oaks for a job interview (got the job though). I really hope things have changed & that the subway will change for the better—WAY too many cars clogging the streets & air!

  19. tealily says:

    I love everything about this! I knew I loved Ed Begley Jr. I didn’t know he had a daughter!