Meet the nepo babies who rejected the spotlight

Samuel and Jessica Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa’s youngest son, Samuel, took a different path than his musical parents, and instead became a firefighter in New Jersey. He graduated from Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014, working his way up from volunteer firefighter before landing a position in Jersey City – a career move that made his parents immensely proud.  “It was a long road, he’s dedicated quite a few years, and we are just excited for him today,” Bruce told CBS New York in 2021. Their daughter Jessica also opted out of a life of fame and became a skilled equestrian who took home silver for her team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

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She began riding horses as a young girl on the family farm after her mother encouraged her passion. Jessica spoke to reporters after her silver medal win at the Olympics, revealing that Bruce and Patti had been by her side from the very beginning. “I’ve been so grateful that my parents have supported me throughout my career,” she said. “They’ve been on this journey for me. It’s been like a huge dream for them as well. So I’m just really happy that I can make them proud. And I just try to focus on what I’m here to do.”

Ruby Guest

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Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest adopted their daughter Ruby when she was nine years old, and never pressured her to follow them into the entertainment industry. She keeps a low profile as a computer game editor, yet went public with her gender transition in 2021 to help others like her feel seen and heard. Ruby spoke to Into More in 2023 about her journey, offering heartfelt advice to other transgender people who were struggling to come out. “It all depends. Different people have different situations. Some, by hiding themselves, might be safe. But if you don’t think you’re going to get kicked out of your house or if you don’t think you’re going to be in mortal danger…then come out, because you’ll feel much more relieved, even if it’s just to your friends,” she said.

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“Or tell someone you trust. Then you can start out on your path, which includes letting everyone know what your preferred pronouns are.”Jamie Lee and Christopher have been supportive of their daughter’s choice from the beginning, and the actress reiterated her support in an interview with Morning Joe in 2023. “This life is about love. Being a parent is about love, and I love Ruby. Love her,” she shared. “People have said, ‘You’re so great to accept her love.’ What are you talking about? This is my daughter, this human being has come to me and said, ‘This is who I am.’ And my job is to say, ‘Welcome home.'” She added: “I will fight and defend her right to exist to anyone who claims that she doesn’t.”

Ireland Baldwin

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Ireland Baldwin, the daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, decided to leave her budding modelling and acting career behind for a quiet life in Oregon with her growing family.  She was deemed an It girl of the 2010s and modelled for brands like Guess, True Religion, Elle and Marie Claire, to name a few. She studied cinematography at the New York Film Academy and dabbled in acting with roles in Grudge Match, Campus Caller and Dark Foe, before making the move to Portland in 2020. “I can’t act for s***. It’s not in my blood,” she admitted on Emily Ratajkowski’s High Low with EmRata podcast in 2023, adding that she “couldn’t handle” the spotlight and “bowed out of that world”.

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“I just really couldn’t be in LA anymore. It started to take a toll on me, and especially over COVID, it’s just become a really dark place,” Ireland explained. “LA can be a wonderful place, but it’s also a trap. It’s filled with a lot of people who definitely don’t have your best interest.” The now 29-year-old welcomed her daughter Holland in May 2023 with her partner André Allen Anjos, and the pair are devoted to raising their little girl away from the bright lights of Hollywood.

Parker O’Donnell

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Rosie O’Donnell’s adopted son Parker chose the career path that few expected: the Marines. “Truth is, since he was a little boy, that’s his area of interest. The same way I love [Barbra] Streisand and Bette Midler and entertainment, he can tell you any general in any war, what kind of tanks they had, what the battles were like,” the actress told Access Hollywood. The teen spent years begging to go to military school; Rosie relented in 2011 despite her political views, allowing him to attend Valley Forge Military Academy to kickstart his career in the Marines.

“How do you really piss off your really left-wing and peace-loving mother? You join the military,” she joked at the time. “Parker was like, ‘Mother, I’d like to serve the Nation.’ I’m like crying, ‘Serve me instead!'” Parker later studied film in LA, and shared a touching message of thanks after graduating from his course. “Graduated today. Thank you to all my instructors and advisors who helped me finish my degree. Thanks to my family for helping me have the opportunity to complete my higher education,” he wrote on Instagram.

Leslie Bogart

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As the daughter of legendary actors Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Leslie had big shoes to fill – so she chose not to step into them at all. The now 72-year-old has worked as a yoga instructor and a nurse, and resides in Boston with her husband, Erich Schiffman. While Leslie mostly shunned the spotlight, she did occasionally accompany her mother to awards shows, like the 1997 Kennedy Centre Honours, and appeared at the Humphrey Bogart Postage Stamp Premieres at Mann Chinese Theatre in 2010 to honour her late father.

E.A. Hanks

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Tom Hanks’ only daughter, Elizabeth – known professionally as E.A. Hanks – was born from his first marriage to Samantha Lewes. While she appeared as an extra in two of her father’s projects – Forrest Gump and That Thing You Do! – she ultimately decided to follow a career in writing and graduated from Vassar College. She has written for major publications like TIME magazine, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Huffington Post, and recently released a bombshell memoir, detailing her unconventional upbringing and making headlines with allegations of abuse directed at her late mother, Samantha Lewes. The 43-year-old opened up about how her life changed when Tom and Samantha separated in 1985 in the book, titled The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road. 

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“Eventually, a divorce agreement was settled, and I would visit my dad and stepmother [Rita Wilson] (and soon enough my younger half-brothers) on the weekends and during summers, but from five to 14, years filled with confusion, violence, deprivation, and love, I was a Sacramento girl,” she wrote. The author explained that when her mother’s “emotional violence became physical violence,” she moved to Tom’s house, where she grew up with her half-brothers Chet and Truman. They are both actors, as is E.A.’s older brother Colin. 

Charles Shaffer

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As the son of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Charles Shaffer could have easily stepped into the fashion world – but instead, he pursued a career in medicine. Anna shares Charles and her daughter Bee with her ex-husband, psychiatrist David Shaffer, who inspired his son to follow in his footsteps. The now 40-year-old graduated from Oxford, and went on to study at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he graduated in 2016 with a specialisation in psychiatry. His notoriously private mother shared an update during the COVID-19 pandemic on his efforts to keep working despite the immense pressure on the medical system. “I am so proud of him and so grateful to all the health workers, first responders, nurses and doctors who are fighting to reduce the spread of the virus and save lives,” she said in an Instagram video.

Isabelle and Hayley Bridges

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Jeff Bridges is a proud father of three daughters: Isabelle, Jessica and Hayley. While Jessica stepped into the spotlight as a musician, Isabelle and Hayley have forged different paths for themselves. Isabelle, 43, is an entrepreneur and author. She founded The Mother’s Empowerment Sisterhood. She also authored a children’s book, Daddy Daughter Day, in 2020, with illustrations by Jeff himself. “Like my father, I was away for much of Isabelle’s childhood due to my work and making movies, and so I try to do my best to try and make up for some of that,” he said on the Share Our Strength podcast. “For some reason, we need reasons to get together, and this was a great reason to get together with my daughter…[it was] a lot of fun!” Meanwhile, Hayley, 39, is a talented interior designer and was inspired to start her own business, Hayley Bridges Design, after graduating from Loyola Marymount University. “Hayley, my baby, she’s the only one who lives in Santa Barbara,” The Big Lebowski star said on The Off Camera Show. “She’s a wonderful interior designer, and we work together on houses.”

Heather and Beatrice McCartney

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Paul McCartney adopted Heather in 1969 after marrying her mother, Linda, and the rocker raised her as his own. The now 63-year-old had a creative streak just like her parents, yet chose to follow her passion for pottery and photography rather than join the entertainment industry. She studied printing at the Photographers Workshop in Covent Garden, and won awards for her incredible work. Heather then studied pottery and design in college and launched her own line of housewares in 1999. Paul flew over to support her launch in Atlanta, sharing with Entertainment Tonight that he was “very proud of her” and “happy” to support his eldest daughter. For her part, Heather credited Paul and Linda as her biggest inspiration, alongside her brother and sisters

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Paul’s youngest daughter, Beatrice, born in 2003 to his third wife Heather Mills, is the most private of his five children, thanks to her parents’ efforts to keep her out of the spotlight. “I’m very proud of the fact that I have kept her image completely protected,” Heather said in an interview with Oprah in 2016. “She’s not mixing in celebrity lifestyle, she’s not out in public places where the whole celebrity thing goes on.” The mother of one revealed to The Guardian that while Beatrice had inherited her father’s musical genes and loved to write poetry, she ultimately shunned the spotlight and preferred a quiet life. “Beatrice hates fame and the whole limelight thing,” she said. “She wants to be a marine biologist, not a pop star.”

Hannah Selleck

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Tom Selleck and his wife Jillie Mack famously turned their backs on Hollywood at the peak of his career to raise their daughter Hannah far from the glare of the spotlight. They lived on a ranch in California, where the now 37-year-old fell in love with horses and decided to pursue an equestrian career. “We both thought it was the best environment for her to grow up,” Jillie explained to People. Hannah opened up in 2023 about her childhood on the farm, sharing that it was Tom who taught her to ride. “I started riding when I was four years old. I grew up on a ranch and was lucky to have some lovely ranch horses,” she told Wellington International. “My dad knew how to ride; he had learned to ride for Western movies. He is a good horseman.” When it came to higher education, the blonde beauty graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2011 with a communications degree, yet found that her love of riding outweighed her PR passion.

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“When I finished college, I thought I might want a career that would support me to ride at a high level as an amateur,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I got a job at a public relations firm – as an internship – and I worked there for a bit, maybe six months, in Beverly Hills. “That was the first time that I had been away from the horses, and I was miserable,” she continued. “I was only able to ride on the weekends, and that was a huge shock. After that, I realised I have to do the horses, so I quit the PR job.” She went on to earn her master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University in 2023, and now runs her own stud farm, Descanso Farms, where she breeds and trains elite-level horses.