1.
First, Jenna Ortega’s mom is an ER nurse and drives Jenna from their home in the Coachella Valley to Los Angeles for auditions. “She drove me, it was like a 6-7 hour round trip from L.A. and back,” Jenna explained. “And she has five more children.”
2.
Chris Evans’ father is a dentist, and his mother was once the artistic director of the Concord Youth Theater in Massachusetts. During his first late-night talk show appearance, Chris joked that his father was a dentist when he showed off his old school photos.
3.
Margot Robbie’s mother is a physiotherapist who worked on the family farm in Australia. After Margot’s father, a fruit farmer, left when she was about 5 years old, Margot’s mother raised her and her siblings alone. When Margot booked her first big film, The wolf of Wall Streetshe paid off her mom’s mortgage.
4.
Pedro Pascal’s father was a fertility doctor, and his mother was a child psychologist while he was growing up. Pedro talked about how his parents fled Chile in the 1970s and were able to build a life for Pedro and his siblings in the United States.
5.
Jessica Chastain’s stepfather is a firefighter. Jessica has spoken openly about her family struggling financially when she was growing up, saying: “I grew up with a single mother who worked really hard to put food on the table. We didn’t have any money. There were many nights when we fell asleep without eating. It was a very difficult upbringing.”
6.
Paul Mescal’s mother was a Garda officer, Ireland’s national police force, and his father was a teacher. His mum retired from the Garda in 2023 and Paul described her as a “force of nature”.
7.
Sandra Oh’s mother is a retired biochemist, and her father is a businessman. They immigrated from South Korea and eventually settled in Ontario in the 1960s before Sandra was born in 1971.
8.
Selena Gomez’s mom used to work at a small modeling agency in Texas and was in charge of makeup. In fact, Selena explained that her mom’s love for makeup inspired her company, Rare Beauty. Selena said: “She did their makeup and took me to work with her. I just loved watching her create, I loved the colors. I loved how she could make someone look completely different.”
9.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s father was once an underground comic book writer and distributor, and his mother worked as a legal secretary. Leo grew up with his father taking him to comic shops and introducing him to small local artists.
10.
Sofia Vergara’s mother was a housewife, and her father was a cattle rancher in Colombia. Additionally, Sofia first attended dental school before deciding to become an actress.
eleven.
Julia Roberts’ parents founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop, a theater school in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King sent their children. After working at school, Yulia’s dad sold vacuum cleaners, and her mother worked as a secretary.
12.
Sam Claflin’s father is an accountant and his mother is a classroom assistant at the high school he attended. Speaking about his parents, Sam said: “My parents have no connections to show business. They are so far from him. It’s nice to be able to share it with them, hold hands and scream together.”
14.
Dolly Parton’s father was a sharecropper who later grew tobacco on his own land. He also worked in construction to supplement the income he received from growing tobacco. Dolly often attributes her impeccable “work ethic” to her father.
15.
Taron Egerton’s mum works in social services and his father once ran a bed and breakfast near Liverpool.
16.
Olivia Rodrigo’s mother is a teacher, and her father is a family therapist. When her album Guts fell, many fans liked the line “but I’m my father’s daughter, so maybe I can fix him” in “bring him back!” knowing that her father is a therapist.
17.
Jodie Comer’s dad is a physiotherapist at Everton Football Club and her mum is a transport worker working for Merseyrail, also known as the metro railway, which serves the Liverpool area.
18.
Taylor Lautner’s mother once worked for a software company, and his father is a pilot for Midwest Airlines. Speaking about growing up with his father as a pilot, Taylor said it came in handy when they drove from Michigan to Los Angeles for auditions.
21.
Finally, Paul McCartney’s father was a salesman for a cotton merchant, and then during World War II he found work as a turner and volunteered for the fire brigade. Meanwhile, his mother was a nurse and midwife.