# Examples of family casting good enough that you noticed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262 "2010-03-29T22:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/21 "2010-03-30T13:28:20Z")
On a show my kids watch, iCarly, Carly and her brother really do have a sort of family-ish resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/22 "2010-03-30T13:57:44Z")
I always felt that the casting of Frances Conroy, Michael C Hall, Peter Krause and Lauren Ambrose as mother and children on Six Feet Under was totally bang-on. The resemblance between Conroy and Ambrose is uncanny. Also, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel in Gilmore Girls very plausibly passed as mother and daughter, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/23 "2010-03-30T14:07:25Z")
The actresses playing Carmela & Meadow on “the Sopranoes” I always thought looked especially like mother & daughter. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/24 "2010-03-30T14:15:25Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Supernatural is really great at casting people to play older and younger versions of the characters. I agree, but Sam and Dean look nothing alike. It’s like they didn’t even try when it came to casting. I keep waiting for the “Sam’s Adopted” or “Mary and the Milkman” episode. 🙂 I thought the family in _Family_ was believable. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/25 "2010-03-30T14:52:58Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > You’re right that many people seem to share this opinion. Just popping in to say that I have always been amazed by this, because to me they look nothing like siblings. I guess it just goes to show how subjective it all can be. I think perhaps their mannerisms and/or the way they carry themselves makes their relationship more plausible than purely their looks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/26 "2010-03-30T15:06:15Z")
Julia Roberts and Kyra Sedgwick were cast as sisters in _Something to Talk About_. They do look like sisters even though the two actresses are unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/27 "2010-03-30T15:19:21Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I agree, but Sam and Dean look nothing alike. It’s like they didn’t even try when it came to casting. I keep waiting for the “Sam’s Adopted” or “Mary and the Milkman” episode. 🙂 No, they were trying for something else with the casting of that show. (As a friend of mine once observed,“Sam and Dean look nothing alike, unless being ridiculously good-looking counts as a physical feature”.) FWIW, I’m never happy with the show’s mini-Deans. They’ve found the perfect little mini-Sam, though. That kid is adorable. ---
**Author:** ![LittleGreenRosetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c77e96/32.png) [@LittleGreenRosetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleGreenRosetta)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/28 "2010-03-30T18:28:49Z")
I think Debbie Reynolds was a great choice for Debra Messings’s mother on _Will and Grace._ And, while it’s not the same, I thought Mayim Bialik was **perfect** playing Bette Midler’s character as a kid in _Beaches_; she not only looks like Bette, she had all her mannerisms down as well. By the same token, I think Mila Kunis would be believable as a young version of Valerie Harper. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/29 "2010-03-30T18:38:44Z")
3rd for Frasier & Niles. The Weasley family from the Harry Potter series. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/30 "2010-03-30T19:17:35Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > On a show my kids watch, iCarly, Carly and her brother really do have a sort of family-ish resemblance. I think it’s their mouths - Miranda Cosgrove has more in the way of cheeks than Jerry Trainor, but they both have similarly unusual smiles, which suggests a blood relation. (Probably got it from their mother - their grandfather from iWanna Stay With Spencer doesn’t have the same look to him.) Yes, I watch iCarly regularly. It’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/31 "2010-03-30T19:49:25Z")
> [@Rafe\_Hollister](#): > > The Weasley family from the Harry Potter series. Really? Other than red hair, the siblings don’t look related at all. The twins have thin angular features and pointy noses (in profile), Ron has a full face with a wide, full-lipped mouth, and the oldest brother has curly hair, big ears, and looks, a little weird. Ron looks like the dad and Ginny looks like the mom though. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/32 "2010-03-30T19:54:35Z")
Tobey McGuire and Jake Gyllenhal (sp?) from the movie _Brothers._ ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/33 "2010-03-30T20:36:46Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] I always felt that the casting of Frances Conroy, Michael C Hall, Peter Krause and Lauren Ambrose as mother and children on Six Feet Under was totally bang-on. The resemblance between Conroy and Ambrose is uncanny. [/QUOTE] Definitely, yes. And [Gwyn and Stacey](http://jamescordenfansite.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/gs_cast.jpg) as mother and daughter in _Gavin and Stacey_ (second and fourth from left). Actually, looking at that I’m going to check that the actresses aren’t actually related and I’m not making a pillock of myself, because I think the resemblance is bang-on. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/34 "2010-03-30T20:53:37Z")
From NZ soap Shortland St these 3 are supposed to be sisters! [http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/shortland/images/5/55/Jeffries\_sisters.jpg&imgrefurl=http://shortland.wikia.com/wiki/Yvonne\_Jeffries&usg=\_\_hSFZ-bsf\_ZpA21A5izfhx6odOC8=&h=129&w=232&sz=6&hl=en&start=8&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=aO7cBf1ud8g\_TM:&tbnh=61&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshortland%2Bst%2Bthe%2Bjeffries%2Bfamily%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26tbs%3Disch:1](http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/shortland/images/5/55/Jeffries_sisters.jpg&imgrefurl=http://shortland.wikia.com/wiki/Yvonne_Jeffries&usg=__hSFZ-bsf_ZpA21A5izfhx6odOC8=&h=129&w=232&sz=6&hl=en&start=8&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=aO7cBf1ud8g_TM:&tbnh=61&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshortland%2Bst%2Bthe%2Bjeffries%2Bfamily%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26tbs%3Disch:1) Its not so clear in this picture, but the South African actrees in the middle is of mixed race & originally didn’t sound all that kiwi! & here is their red head TV mum [http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3888515775\_342f84d6ab.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/reganrachel/3888515775/&usg=\_\_-QV1Blf4XgEzKzspNibJ2nDy4KU=&h=500&w=333&sz=88&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=SJ-UQ834hYqVrM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshortland%2Bst%2Bthe%2Bjeffries%2Bfamily%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1](http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3888515775_342f84d6ab.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/reganrachel/3888515775/&usg=__-QV1Blf4XgEzKzspNibJ2nDy4KU=&h=500&w=333&sz=88&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=SJ-UQ834hYqVrM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshortland%2Bst%2Bthe%2Bjeffries%2Bfamily%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1) & coarser features than any of the girls. The TV Dad has been written out - at a stretch you could picture him being the father of the tallest of the girls. Was that old show with Michael J Fox & Meredith Baxter Birney Family Ties? The siblings looked nothing like each other or the parents. Same with Eight is Enough & the sisters on Petticoat Junction. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/35 "2010-03-30T21:18:07Z")
Kevin McKidd and Reed Diamond in [Journeyman.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948538/) ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/36 "2010-03-30T22:18:08Z")
> [@LittleGreenRosetta](#): > > By the same token, I think Mila Kunis would be believable as a young version of Valerie Harper. I know Nemesis never happened, but if Will Riker and Deanna Troi have a daughter, she would have to be played by Mila Kunis. [Marina Sirtis](http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/NewArts/MarinaSirtis.jpg)+[Johnathan Frakes](http://stng.36el.com/st-tng/cast/images/frakes.jpg)=[Mila Kunis](http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/2/20652/16_2008/MilaKunis_Theo_15729745_Max.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/37 "2010-03-30T22:25:54Z")
One episode of _Psych_ (“There Might Be Blood”) introduced a guest star who bore some striking similarities to Chief Vick. It wasn’t long before I realized that she was going to turn out to be Vick’s sister – and she was. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/38 "2010-03-30T22:45:40Z")
Does actual family casting count? Casting Katherine Houghton as Katharine Hepburn’s daughter in _Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner_ was genius. Ditto Sophie Thompson / Philidia Law as the dotty Miss and Mrs. Bates in _Emma_. For non-related great casting, how about Sean Bean and David Wenham in _The Two Towers / Return of the King_? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/39 "2010-03-31T02:51:25Z")
Another one I just thought of is the three McPoyle’s on It’s Always Sunny. Even without all the makeup (and sweat, and robes) they still could pass as brothers and sister. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262/40 "2010-03-31T03:05:11Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Does actual family casting count? Casting Katherine Houghton as Katharine Hepburn’s daughter in _Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner_ was genius. Ditto Sophie Thompson / Philidia Law as the dotty Miss and Mrs. Bates in _Emma_. Long Riders. Three Carradines, two Quaids, two Keaches, two Guests. Actual brothers cast as brothers. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-family-casting-good-enough-that-you-noticed/534262.md?page=3)