MAKING IT (REALLY!).... IN HOLLWOOD.

But is nepotism a bad thing in this case? Should audiences care that Angelina Jolie's dad is Academy Award winner Jon Voight? Or that it was Tori Spelling's father who cast her in Beverly Hills, 90210? Jonathan Kuntz, a film historian at the University of California Los Angeles' department of Film, TV and Digital Media, doesn't think so. The way he sees it, celebrity relatives can often get an aspiring star a gig or two, but then they must stand on their own. Unlike industries where connections reign supreme, in Hollywood the audience ultimately decides who sticks around and who doesn't. Thompson argues that it's tougher for the A-list offspring. Perpetually compared with their established relatives, they're often held to higher standards than lesser-known peers. The result: These stars have to work overtime to prove they're famous because of talent, rather than a star-studded family tree.

Forbes
Nov 12 2008