12 Times Actors’ Real Parents Played Their Onscreen Parents (But It's Not Super Well-Known)

Plenty of actors' kids follow in their footsteps, and sometimes, art imitates life.

Here are 12 times actors' real parents played their parents onscreen (but they're not super well-known):

1. On Master of None Season 1, Aziz Ansari's parents, Shoukath and Fatima Ansari, played Dev Shah's parents, Ramesh and Nisha.

Here they are together IRL:

2. In Small Town Saturday Night , Chris Pine plays Rhett Ryan, and his dad, Robert Pine, play Rhett's father, John Ryan.

Here they are together IRL:

3. In BBC Sherlock Season 3, Benedict Cumberbatch's parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, played Sherlock Holmes's parents.

BBC / Via Hulu

Here they are together IRL (alongside actor Tracie Bennett):

4. In the DCOM Jump In! , Corbin Bleu played Izzy Daniels, and his dad, David Reivers, played Izzy's dad, Kenneth.

Here they are together IRL:

5. But that's not the only time Corbin and David teamed up onscreen! In High School Musical 3 : Senior Year, David had a small role as Chad Danforth's father.

Once again, here they are together IRL:

6. In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequel, Ernie Lively played Franz Vreeland, the father of his real-life daughter Blake Lively's character, Bridget.

7. In the 2024 Apple TV+ series Palm Royale , Bruce Dern and Laura Dern played father/daughter duo Skeet Rollins and Linda Shaw/Penelope Rollins.

Here they are together IRL:

8. In 1997, Matthew Perry starred as Alex Whitman in Fools Rush In . His dad, John Bennett Perry, played Richard Whitman.

Here they are together IRL:

9. That's not the only time they've played father and son onscreen! On the Scrubs Season 4 episode " My Unicorn ," John guest-starred as Gregory Marks, a patient, and Matthew played his son, Murray.

Here are they are together IRL once again:

10. In the 2021 miniseries Maid , Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell costarred as Alex Russell and her mother, Paula Langley.

Here they are together IRL:

11. In 2015's Forsaken , Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland played father and son Rev. Samuel Clayton and John Henry Clayton.

Here they are together IRL:

12. And finally, Jerry Stiller played Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens . On the Season 4 episode " Shrink Wrap ," his son, Ben Stiller, played Arthur's father, Jerry Spooner.

Here they are together IRL:

What's your favorite actor parent/child onscreen matchup? Let us know in the comments!