Of all the under-30 nepo babies in the film/television industry right now, I think Sam Nivola is one of the most talented. He’s the son of actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola. While Sam didn’t get his earliest roles because of his parents, he doesn’t actually acknowledge that he certainly has a leg up in the industry. That being said, he’s actually been an auditioning-and-jobbing actor for years. He’s had a huge breakthrough in the past year, first with the campy ensemble drama The Perfect Couple (he played Nicole Kidman’s youngest kid) and then he played the youngest child of Parker Posey and Jason Isaacs’ couple in The White Lotus. Sam is going to be booking tons of jobs off of his star turn in TWL. I think he was robbed of an Emmy nomination honestly – the only reason he didn’t get nominated for TWL is because all of the other actors involved with that show got nominated. Anyway, Sam has a new profile in Variety. He talks about nepo babies and a lot more – he’s 21 years old and pretty unfiltered for a guy whose parents work in the industry too. Some highlights:
On ‘The White Lotus’: “It’s totally changed my life and the scope of my career…When ‘The White Lotus’ was at its peak, I literally couldn’t walk down the street in Brooklyn — my hometown — without being swarmed.”
His parents forbade him from auditioning before he was 18: When Nivola was 17, his high school drama teacher helped him net an audition for “White Noise,” in which he’d play the son of Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig’s characters. It was during the pandemic, and Nivola sent in a self-tape in secret. He only told his parents about the opportunity once he made it to the next round. “Holy f–king sh-t, it’s a Noah Baumbach movie?! You have to do the callback!” he remembers his parents saying.
On the idea that he’s a nepo baby: “Other than my genes, I don’t think I can attribute much of my success to my parents. I feel proud that I’ve done it for myself, and sometimes in spite of them.” Of his first movie role, he says, “I didn’t get my dad’s agent to call up so-and-so. I did it by myself. I didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to be able to say that anything I’ve achieved has been because of anyone other than me. And I’m proud of that.”
When the Nivola family is out, people stop him, not his parents: “But that just goes to show the trappings of fame. Because I’m not half as talented as my father or my mother.”
He got the role in ‘The White Lotus’ the old-fashioned way, by auditioning: “I’m just grateful that there are people who are not casting things based on how many Instagram followers you have,” Nivola says. (He has 145,000.) “They’re casting based on who is right for the job. Like, ‘You might not be Jacob Elordi, but you’re the guy.’”
He just filmed an R-rated comedy: “It’s rare to have comedies at all. It’s been pretty dry for a little while…Can you think of any good ones that have come out in the last five years? Other than ‘Friendship’?” He attributes the decline to studios being more financially “conservative.” “They’ve ‘Moneyball’-ed the film industry! Everything is about data now — and trying to predict, to the nearest dollar, how much money a movie’s going to make. It screws the idea of risk-taking, and comedy is more about risk-taking than any other genre.”
Old movie stars: “The old movie stars are getting plastic surgery, and they’re looking younger and they’re staying young. You have these really old people playing young roles. And it’s not giving any space for the young’uns to move in and make a name for themselves. With all due respect to those people, one day they won’t be here anymore, literally, and they will have to create new stars.”
He loves acting: “I love acting so much that I would be totally content working a run-of-the-mill, 9-to-5, minimum-wage job for the rest of my life if I got to do this on weekends.”
On the state of the American film industry: “One of the biggest fears I have is that nothing can afford to shoot in America anymore,” Nivola says. The business model of moviemaking in the U.S. is so out of whack that “you can hire a team of 10 gaffers in Hungary for cheaper than hiring one key grip in Los Angeles. It’s so silly, Trump saying he’s going to put a tariff on foreign films. That’s the opposite of what we need to be doing. It’s not that we shouldn’t be watching foreign films; it’s that we need more tax incentives to shoot movies in America.”
He also talks about how America should invest in making films (of all varieties) accessible to younger people, like the British Film Institute does. Meaning, I suppose, investing in cheaper screenings of art films and foreign films and the like. Plus, massive tax incentives for productions within the UK. As for the nepo baby drama… he IS a nepo baby, even if he didn’t get his start through his parents’ contacts. He still gets to go into auditions and people are like “wait, your parents are Emily and Alessandro, right?” He seems like a smart young guy, and it seriously never hurts to just acknowledge your baseline privilege.
Sam Nivola on the impact of "The White Lotus": “It’s totally changed my life and the scope of my career."
“When ‘The White Lotus’ was at its peak, I literally couldn’t walk down the street in Brooklyn — my hometown — without being swarmed.”https://t.co/eoIrm69QsT pic.twitter.com/Vq7Z3WNNoi
— Variety (@Variety) August 7, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
-
- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – SEPTEMBER 04: Sam Nivola arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘The Perfect Couple’ Season 1 held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on September 4, 2024 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 905015796, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sam Nivola, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
-
- White Lotus Season 3 Premiere at Paramount Theater on February 10, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA,Image: 962256002, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sam Nivola, Credit line: Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon
-
- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 10: Sam Nivola attends the Los Angeles Premiere of HBO Original Series “The White Lotus” Season 3 at Paramount Theatre on February 10, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 962926797, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Sam Nivola, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon
Ugh. Why can’t nepo babies just simply acknowledge they got a leg up and move on? Be grateful, express gratitude and then go back to talking about your morning protein powder routine, your discovery of XYZ brand and your feels about Method acting, which you read about from scrolling through articles interviewing other celebrities, not from actually studying it.
Unless you’re a major unique genius talent widely acknowledged right out of the gate, you have benefited from your famous family in connections, money and reduced risk from failure, and have been given a chance, because anyone interviewing or casting you already knows who you are. Period. You have one job: Don’t f*** it up (see: Sydney Chandler. Don’t do that)
I don’t know who any of these people are.
Same
Right? I think he can safely actually say his parents don’t give him a leg up, because I only vaguely recognize his mom’s name, and it might just be because I think Mortimer is a funny name.
He can’t come out and say, I’m not a nepo baby because my parents are nobodies, that would be sh*tty to them. The advantage he has is having parents who understand the business and systems, which is more like just going into the family line of work. To me, nepo means there’s name recognition or personal connections being used/leaned on. It sounds like he’s done 3 jobs? Feels like a reach.
Hi parents are both well known inside the film industry. It doesn’t matter that you, a civilian not in the industry, don’t know who they are. Both are acclaimed, working actors with massive resumes. Thus he is a nepo baby. Period.
I’m sorry, but he is only getting roles because of his parents. He was just really bad in both Perfect Couple and The White Lotus.
Also, all of the stuff he is saying here sounds so dumb. Old people are taking parts from young actors? OK. Casting directors don’t look at social media? Maya Hawke (who does graciously acknowledge her leg up) talks much more eloquently about this. Also, his family is rich. It’s pretty easy to say that you’d work a regular 9-5 when you know you’ll never have to. STOP.
Omg the 9-to-5 part…Huge eyeroll followed quickly by a boisterous “Sure, Jan.”
it’s kind of a throwback interview to when actors were more honest and a little messy, but the reason his generation is being pushed aside for the movie stars of the 80s/90s/early 00’s is because those generations are still buying tickets. the younger gen cares nothing about film or tv – they like content on tiktok and instagram.
Sounds like a smart guy – I’m gonna go read the rest of this interview. It’s telling our entertainment is so fractured only the white lotus is something everyone saw and could make you famous overnight. I grew up with plenty of nepo babies – Carrie fisher, Jaime Lee Curtis, Laura Dern – and I have to admit the fact that both their parents were famous actors (or singers) made them more interesting to me. Sort of – let’s see if they are as good. And acting talent, like any other artistic trait is passed down through genes (good genes!). But it sounds like he acknowledges that leg up. I’m off to read the rest!
Acting talent is passed down genetically? Through good genes? What am I reading? Should the children of doctors be able to perform surgery just because they have doctor’s genes? Or the children of airplane pilots, should they get to fly planes?
And no, he does not acknowledge the “leg up” he got from being a nepo baby, on the contrary, he denies it. Hence my original comment
It’s hilarious to me that he talks about his genes because he’s not nearly as good looking as his parents 🫣. I also found him…adequate, I guess? In The White Lotus. If he ever feels like acknowledging his privilege I’ll be much nicer about the fact that he’s middling in every regard 😅.
Lens said artistic talent, which is often passed down through generations. Piloting and performing surgery are learned skills, not an inherent artistic talent.
But I agree he should acknowledge his leg up – even if his parents aren’t huge stars and didn’t call their agents for him, he still grew up in the industry and has knowledge and connections others don’t. I never understand why it’s so hard for these kids of actors to admit that.
It’s confounding how easy it is to say yes I had a leg up and yet so hard for a lot of young people to say it. There have been a rare handful who get it. Allison Williams. Jack Quaid I think? Pride ego and needing to prove themselves, I guess. It was funny when he spoke about older actors still playing young bc they get plastic surgery. I’d argue a lot of them aren’t looking that young but they have name recognition.
Yep, Allison and Jack both. Maya Hawke. And Lewis Pullman gave a very good answer barely four months ago also to the Hollywood Reporter! LMAO!
Cheat off their homework kid, it’s not hard. 😅
Lewis Pullman is very talented; my favorite of the nepos
Lewis,Pullman’s interview was great and he also talked about “inheriting” artistic ability. But it was more that he grew up in an artistic environment. His dad, obviously, and his mom is an artist or musician. So when you grow up surrounded by artistic people you often feel a pull in that direction.
I’m trying to remember what Lewis Pullman said but I don’t remember minding so it was prob okay. Maya Hawke was….meh, from what I remember, not the worst but not that great either. It’s just funny. Bc I do kind of get it. Young people have egos and want to prove themselves and can feel embarrassed at being privileged. But the sooner you can just acknowledge it and move on the better. It’s not that person’s fault who they were born to but it is their fault when they can’t see how they are in SOME ways luckier than others. It speaks to a lack of understanding and compassion. And maybe they’ll get there idk. Honestly, I was very privileged in my own way and sheltered and didn’t get “it” until mid to late 20s. There’s a bubble. So I give people room to break out of that bubble…up to a point. And also, where are the adults warning them that this question will be asked and not to be an idiot in their answer. Like teach them what it means to have something that others don’t and how the world works. Like just say I’ve worked really hard but I know that I also have a leg up in some ways that others don’t. End of statement and move on jeez.
His comment about older actors getting plastic surgery and playing younger roles, thereby stealing work from younger actors is….. not accurate.
Yeah, that comment is puzzling and totally inaccurate.
Why all the attention to nepo babies in the entertainment field? Nepotism is rampant across all professions. Police, firefighters, banking, investment houses, doctors, lawyers, take your pick. If your father, motner, grandfather or whatever has “connections” , you have a leg up.
I imagine it’s because only in the entertainment field are nepo babies regularly giving publicly available interviews and deliberately seeking a public life, as opposed to police, firefighters, banking, doctors, lawyers etc. Nepo babies in other fields may say equally asinine things like denying they’ve had a leg up, but not usually on the cover of Variety or the New York Times or….etc
Exactly. And it’s the same thing with every topic just about – sexual harassment? Oh those awful Hollywood people! Never mind that it happens in every industry. Plastic surgery? Hollywood stars desperate to stay young. Certainly nobody else in the rest of the world gets botox or whatever! Celebrities are just more visible.
Some of those are going to have to earn a degree on their own. In the case of firefighters they are going to have to do the training and the physical stuff. Mom and Dad can’t help with more than getting them into the school or training.
Exactly. There can be a pull towards what you grow up with be it entertainment, law enforcement, the military, medicine, whatever. But acting is one of the career fields like that where you don’t *need* training or even be good to be successful. The military has certain physical, emotional and mental restrictions and required training. And a bachelors degree to be an officer with a masters degree to advance. Doctors and lawyers it goes without saying. The police and fire departments have requirements. Your parents can influence you, pay for school, help get you into schools, grease the wheels with recommendations but there are basic limits.
His father is wayyyyyy more talented.
So is his mom — she was fantastic on The Newsroom.
His dad was soooo hot too. Still is actually.
Eh. He is a bright kid and he sounds like a typical bright kid. This is how they talk. He is young and so all of his ideas are strong and “brilliant” and a bit messy. He is nepo, but he wants to be in charge of his destiny! But that is ok. He is finding his way in the public eye and I hope people are nice.
Meh, I think he was fine in the TWL but hardly revelatory. I thought Patrick Schwarzenegger gave a much more nuanced performance IMO.
I have been watching his Mama & Daddy for DECADES! They are CAPTIVATING on screen✨️………..and their Son is LUCKY he has parents in the industry….😬
Yeah, they only conceived you, your mom risked her life to give birth to you, then they raised you, educated you, and gave you whatever you have of a loving family life. Unless those things are not in fact true, shut the hell up, you ungrateful little brat.
I don’t even care about the fact that he’s a nepo baby. I’m just so tired of the “I did it all on my own” narrative. None of us do it on our own. You literally can’t drive down the street without benefiting from the labor of others who came before you. Learn some grace, people.
Why the anger? He sounds like he came from a loving, supportive family and that he appreciates his parents and admires their talent. Maybe he is underestimating the advantage being born into an acting family has given him, but that doesn’t make him an ungrateful little brat!
Plenty nepo stuff I didn’t agree with but this part: “They’ve ‘Moneyball’-ed the film industry! Everything is about data now — and trying to predict, to the nearest dollar, how much money a movie’s going to make. It screws the idea of risk-taking, and comedy is more about risk-taking than any other genre.”” THIS I wholeheartedly agree with.
meh, he was the weakest link in that White Lotus cast. His performance was very one note.
In a stacked cast he didn’t really stand out in White L imo. Also was that a cut on Jacob Elordi?
I’m getting a strong weenie vibe
I found the comment about old movie stars more annoying than the nepo stuff. Tom Cruise is a massive star with or without plastic surgery, and will always bring in money.
This man’s last name is not familiar to me so I can believe he didn’t benefit from the last he name has.
He’s not name dropping it either like Gwyneth did with her father and the tv show St Elsewhere and whatever play her mother did at Williamstown so I guess I believe him haha.
Ok, I looked up his dad. Hmmm the father is much more handsome. So it does seem he has benefited from nepotism…and I’ll have to take back my previous comment. I was a little stunned that he doesn’t have that what his dad does.
Whaat? You guys are so mean, lol. Sam is a fantastic actor, one of those who rewards close watching. There’s so much in his microexpressions, I found him absolutely riveting in the White Lotus. Him and Patrick. It’s still so messed up he wasn’t nominated… (again, both of them got screwed).
And listen, he’s insanely attractive! I mean, there are better pictures than the one chosen for the header, but come on. As far as the nepo stuff, I’m sure he has have knowledge about the industry normies don’t, but I think he’s referring to the fact that he wasn’t using his parents’ name recognition to get ahead. It’s whatever at this point, no one likes to feel they haven’t earned what they have. But people sure love to fuss about how nepo babies aren’t grateful enough.
I didn’t watch the WL so I can’t speak to his acting. Im sure he’s good. I have no specific animosity towards him at all and I don’t think groveling in gratitude is necessary. It’s not even what people really want. ISWTG people just need to say I work really hard and I’m also lucky to have parents in the business in a way that others don’t have. End scene and move on. Delete the sentence about how they got there on their own without any boosting from their industry parents. It’s not rocket science.
My goodness. Even if he didn’t call his dad’s agent up or downplayed his family affiliation, he still had a massive leg-up up by growing up with creative parents in Brooklyn, who have a lot of money, and probably sent him to amazing schools. THAT’s also a huge boost that other actors don’t have. Your bootstraps are made of gold, son.
Also, what 9-5 has he actually worked that he can confidently say that crap about acting on the weekend? Does he know how draining the stupid grind is, week after week?
Gawd. I will give him a pass (for now) because he’s super young and too privileged to know how privileged he is. But boy did my eyes just roll back in my head.
This kid went to the same school as my nephew did in Brooklyn. My cousin’s kids went there too. It’s considered one of the best private schools in that (very hip and wealthy) borough and probably the most “artsy.” His parents are both successful, respected actors. I’ve seen Mortimer in a ton of things without even trying to. I only remember his father in “Mansfield Park” but I know he works regularly and is very good. He would have been exposed to the world of acting in so many ways even if he was not allowed to audition as a kid. He grew up in a bubble of opportunity and money and education and hipness. I can’t imagine a better way for an aspiring actor to grow up, honestly.
I have nothing against him. He was good in White Lotus, slightly less good in The Perfect Couple (though to be fair that was not very well directed IMO). I thought Arnold’s son Patrick was better and was kind of the revelation and breakout star of that series, not Sam. The actress who played the sister was just as good as he was. She seems to come from some money but she grew up in Alabama and her family is not in acting or the arts.
I don’t think he really knows how privileged he is. I hesitate to call him kind of dumb, but I really think he doesn’t know that other people live differently…he’s very naive.
Maybe his parents should sit him down and explain, but I’m kind of wondering how obtuse they might be to have never explained this to him. His dad is hot though. Had to throw that in there…