# TV/movie family resemblance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553 "2011-09-16T20:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/1 "2011-09-16T20:25:00Z")
When I see a family portrayed in a television show or movie, I often notice that the putative family members don’t resemble each other in the slightest. No doubt this is because casting directors choose actors more for their acting talents and suitability for a particular role than for their physical resemblance to the other actors. (I’m aware that not all family members in real life resemble each other, but I’m sure we can all agree that _most_ people at least somewhat resemble their close relatives.) What are some examples of television and movie families where there is actually a plausible family resemblance between the actors? (To simplify things, let’s ignore the case where the actors themselves share a blood relation.) And in such examples, is the resemblance purely coincidental, or did the casting directors deliberately seek out actors who resembled each other? The only example that springs to my mind is the striking resemblance between actors Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce, who played brothers in the sitcom _Frasier_. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/2 "2011-09-16T20:36:24Z")
_Six Feet Under._ Frances Conroy and Lauren Ambrose played mother and daughter, and I always thought they looked like they were actually related. Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall played brothers, and they had a certain resemblance, too. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/3 "2011-09-16T20:41:56Z")
How about Vicki Lawrence and Carol Burnett from the latter’s self-titled show? (Although perhaps that’s cheating, as the resemblance is the whole reason that Vicki Lawrence was hired.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/4 "2011-09-16T21:07:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How about Vicki Lawrence and Carol Burnett from the latter’s self-titled show? (Although perhaps that’s cheating, as the resemblance is the whole reason that Vicki Lawrence was hired.) I don’t think it’s cheating; in the example I gave in my OP, I’m pretty sure David Hyde Pierce got the role at least partially because of his resemblance to Kelsey Grammer. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/5 "2011-09-16T21:10:13Z")
Reese Witherspoon and Dina Waters in **Just Like Heaven**. Regardless of what you think about the movie, those two actresses really looked like they could be sisters. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/6 "2011-09-16T21:22:40Z")
**Edtv** had Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey cast as brothers. I thought they resembled each other enough to make it believable. I’m waiting for the movie that has Johnny Depp and Skeet Ulrich as brothers. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/7 "2011-09-16T21:24:09Z")
Small Wonder’s not a well-respected show (and for good reason), but the actors who played the father and son (Dick Christie and Jerry Supiran, respectively) looked enough alike that one time when I was watching it as a kid, my mother asked me if the two were actually father and son. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/8 "2011-09-16T21:27:51Z")
Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire from that movie they were in…Brothers, I think it was called? But maybe it doesn’t count since for years people talked about how alike they look…in fact, Gyllenhaal was “on deck” to replace Tobey in Spider-Man 3 since Tobey originally said he didn’t want to do it because he felt he injured himself filming Spider-Man 2. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/9 "2011-09-16T21:31:48Z")
Just for fun, to invert the topic… The most striking example of two people who bear no resemblance to each other being cast as family members I can think of is Kenneth Branagh’s film of Much Ado About Nothing, which cast Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington as half-brothers. (Don John and Don Pedro, respectively.) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/10 "2011-09-16T21:32:08Z")
I think the kids in Brady Bunch all looked like siblings – that is, the boys all looked like brothers of each other and the girls looked like sisters of each other. I’m trying to think of other families on TV where they look alike, but I’m not coming up with much else. I thought that they did a pretty good job in the show Grounded for Life, the two boys looked like each other and the older girl looked like she could be from Donal Logue and Megan Pryce. I thought they were pretty far off the mark with Donal and Kevin Corrigan being brothers, but that would be a case where the actors were hired for the characters they could play. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/11 "2011-09-16T22:45:17Z")
In a similar case, in the most recent incarnation of Dr Who and his companion, the little girl playing little Amelia Pond and the older actress playing grown-up Amelia Pond looked amazingly alike, and it later turned out when the two were chatting backstage, that they were actually related to each other - cousins or something. The casting people didn’t know that. [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/4115/1203676-d11s01ep01\_wal\_19\_doctor\_am.jpg](http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/4115/1203676-d11s01ep01_wal_19_doctor_am.jpg) [![](http://doctorwhotoys.net/amypond_wishlist%20copy.jpg) ](http://doctorwhotoys.net/amypond_wishlist%20copy.jpg) Freaky close resemblance, no? ---
**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:** [September 16, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/12 "2011-09-16T22:56:45Z")
I always thought they did a really good job casting [Modern Family.](http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/7500000/Modern-Family-modern-family-7554980-2560-1920.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/13 "2011-09-16T22:59:13Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > …and it later turned out when the two were chatting backstage, that they were actually related to each other - cousins or something. The casting people didn’t know that. That’s not true. It was Karen Gillan who suggested her young cousin for the role. The only notable thing is that the two hadn’t actually met. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/14 "2011-09-16T23:08:34Z")
On _Psych_ Jane Lynch plays Chief Vick’s older sister. I could see it. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/15 "2011-09-16T23:27:05Z")
Going back a ways, I thought “The Walton” kids all resembled each other passably. The Huxtable children on the other hand were all over the lot. While each was a fine looking person they didn’t look too much like one another. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/16 "2011-09-16T23:30:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That’s not true. It was Karen Gillan who suggested her young cousin for the role. The only notable thing is that the two hadn’t actually met. I’ll believe you, but your version seems a little odd - how would she know to recommend her young cousin for a role if they hadn’t actually met? How would she know the cousin would look/act appropriately? ---
**Author:** ![LaurenIpsum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@LaurenIpsum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaurenIpsum)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/17 "2011-09-16T23:41:59Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I think the kids in Brady Bunch all looked like siblings – that is, the boys all looked like brothers of each other and the girls looked like sisters of each other. It’s interesting that you say that - I personally don’t think they look anything alike at all, apart from having similar hair colors. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/18 "2011-09-16T23:47:23Z")
Lea Michele’s character on Glee is adopted, and eventually she met her biological mother, played by Idina Menzel: [Wow they look alike.](http://crushable.com/entertainment/idina-menzel-definitely-not-lea-micheles-gay-lover-on-tv-at-least/) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/19 "2011-09-17T00:04:25Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > I’ll believe you, but your version seems a little odd - how would she know to recommend her young cousin for a role if they hadn’t actually met? You’re right, it does sound odd. But it’s [true](http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/television-news/2010/03/31/new-doctor-who-star-karen-gillan-mets-cousin-for-the-first-time-on-set-of-the-show-86908-22150888/). On the OP: I thought [Tom Cavanagh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cavanagh) as J.D’s brother Dan on _Scrubs_ was convincing. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553/20 "2011-09-17T00:12:34Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > I’ll believe you, but your version seems a little odd - how would she know to recommend her young cousin for a role if they hadn’t actually met? How would she know the cousin would look/act appropriately? The two of them not meeting doesn’t mean their families are out of contact, so, it’s easy enough to imagine Gillen’s parents saying to her ‘you know, Karen, your cousin, Caitlin is a dead ringer for you at that age’, then later ‘did you hear, Karen, young Caitlin has gotten interested in acting’… It’s also pretty easy to imagine that when she noticed that the script involved a younger version of her character, she’d go to the casting folks ‘Have you cast young Amy yet? Well, I’ve a cousin that they say looks a lot like me, and is interested in acting, so why not give her a read?’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-family-resemblance/596553.md?page=2)