Film directors who have directed one or more family members

Daniel Day-Lewis, one of the most-venerated actors in history, was retired. He had his three Oscars for Best Actor were just chilling for years. So what brought Day-Lewis back to the big screen? “Anemone,” a movie he co-wrote with the film’s director Ronan Day-Lewis, his son. Being able to secure the return of a living legend probably helped Ronan get his directorial debut greenlit.

Nobody loves putting his family in films more than Judd Apatow. Well, other than Adam Sandler maybe, and it’s not surprising those two are friends. “This Is 40” is a nepotism magnum opus from Apatow. Paul Rudd’s wife is played by Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann, and the couple’s daughters are played by Maude and Iris, Judd and Leslie’s daughters.

When your father has three Oscar nominations, nobody is going to quibble with you casting him. John Huston became a venerated director in his own right, ensuring he was not merely the son of Walter Huston, who also got into directing. “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” is one of the collaborations between John and Humphrey Bogart, but Walter plays a grizzled prospector who has gone mad over the years. This time around, John directed Walter to his one Oscar win.

With “Prizzi’s Honor,” John Huston flipped the generational Oscar success. The crime comedy was his penultimate movie, and the last to be released during his lifetime. While “Prizzi’s Honor” starred Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner, John’s daughter Anjelica was also cast in a supporting role. She would in turn win Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. Yes, John Huston directed his father and his daughter to Oscar wins.

Francis Ford Coppola crushed it when it came to casting “The Godfather,” still venerated as one of the best movies ever made (and reasonably so). One of the actors in the film was Talia Shire, who played Connie Corleone. She was married to David Shire at the time, which is why “The Godfather” was the first movie where she was not credited as Talia Coppola. Yes, she is Francis’ sister.

Okay, this time around Coppola made a questionable decision in casting a family member. Talia returned once again, but added to the cast was Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone. Sofia has become a well-venerated director herself, but there’s a reason why she didn’t go the acting route. She was ill-suited for the role in “Godfather Part III,” which is probably something Francis should have realized.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” is laden with famous family members. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son Cooper, of course, but Steven Spielberg’s daughter and Leonardo DiCaprio’s father have small roles in the film as well. However, Anderson also cast his quasi-wife in a small role, which is fair given that she is none other than Maya Rudolph. The couple's four children all pop up in small roles in the movie as well.

M. Night Shyamalan loves casting himself in roles he’s underqualified for, so it’s not surprising he’s spread the wealth to his family as well. “Trap” is a slice of mindless fun about a massive concert that is a sting operation to catch a serial killer, but the massive pop star Lady Raven is played by Saleka Night Shyamalan. Yes, M. Night cast his daughter, a marginally-successful singer who is not an actor, as one of the biggest musicians in the world.

James Gunn casts his brother Sean in basically everything he does. He’s had an acting career outside of James’ films, but his most-prominent roles have been in James’ blockbuster movies. We’re highlighting “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” because Kraglin’s role in that movie is larger than usual.

Ron Howard comes from an acting family, and when he went into the directing world he tapped into that. “Apollo 13” is probably his best movie, and his brother Clint and his father Rance both have tertiary roles. Ron’s daughter Bryce Dallas is also in the background of one scene, but interestingly Ron has never given his daughter more than a cameo role, even though she has been a successful professional actress for many years.

Alfred Hitchcock was the Master of Suspense, but he was no slouch on the nepotism front, either. His only child, his daughter Pat, only had three real film roles. Each of them was in one of her father’s movies. Her biggest role was in “Strangers on a Train.” Honestly? She’s actually pretty good. To be fair, Pat also did some TV work. Why, she was even in 10 episodes of…oh, wait, it was “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

Richard Linklater loves himself a filmmaking experiment, and “Boyhood” was particularly bold. He shot the movie over 12 years, and that’s hard to do. Casting his buddy Ethan Hawke helped, but for the role of the main character’s older sister Linklater just went ahead and cast his daughter Lorelei. She has continued to act in a bunch of stuff you’ve never heard of.

Of course Kevin Smith got on the nepotism train! The dude cast his buddy Jason Mewes in movies for years just to hang. “Yoga Hosers” is, well, it’s bad and it’s stupid. It co-stars Lily-Rose Depp (a good way to get Johnny Depp to make an appearance) and Smith’s daughter Harley Quinn. Also, yeah, Kevin Smith named his daughter Harley Quinn.

You may be thinking, “Oh yeah, that karaoke movie? Wasn’t Huey Lewis in it?” He sure was! Lewis is one of the members of an ensemble cast, and so is Gwyneth Paltrow. That is notable because the movie was directed by Bruce Paltrow. People often point out Gwyneth’s mom is actress Blythe Danner, but don’t forget good ol’ Bruce. He was mostly a TV writer/director, but he directed “Duets” as well.

Ben Stiller has made a habit of casting his wife Christine Taylor, but “Zoolander” has more of Stiller’s family into the mix. The absurdist comedy features Ben’s father Jerry Stiller as Derek Zoolander’s agent Maury. Ben’s mother, comedian Anne Meara, also makes a cameo.

Clint Eastwood has directed a thousand movies, so it would have been entirely possible for one of his kids to end up in one without him even realizing. The most-successful of his kids is Scott, who has an acting career independent of his father. That being said, he has been in a few of Clint’s movies, and "Invictus" is probably his most-prominent role.

John Cassavetes and his wife, the acclaimed actress Gena Rowlands, worked together very successfully. “A Woman Under the Influence” was a real family affair, though. Also, Cassavetes cast one of his best friends Peter Falk in the movie as well. Two of John and Gena’s kids are in it, and both John and Gena’s mothers were cast in the film as well. This is one of the two films Rowlands got an Oscar nomination for, and both films were directed by John.