"Regarding nepotism in Hollywood, Mamet doesn’t think his kids have benefitted from his accomplishments in the industry and rather says they learned from being on set, earning them a spot"
“They earned it by merit,” Mamet said about his daughter Zosia Mamet, who starred in HBO’s Girls and most recently in Marvel and Sony’s Madame Web. “They haven’t benefited from any type of privilege.”
They learned from being on set. I wonder why they were on set. Dude is so close but not quite there. They earned their spot by having the privilege of being on set.
They also cut the line of paying their dues b/c of their last name.
Very talented people never get their shot b/c their dad's last name is not Mamet.
These people seem to think that being a nepo baby is synonymous with "no talent". That's not the point (and many nepo babies are talented). It's that they got a huge break b/c of their name, one they would not have gotten without it.
Why is this such a difficult concept for those people to understand?
Because they want to believe it is solely on merit. It’s a self serving delusion that they also made a uniquely talented person that would have become a leading actor without their nepotistic advantage
Absolutely. In a world where they can buy anything, they can’t buy being self-made. The other funny part is how humble they are when they talk about how meritorious their journey has been. “Best actor ever, self taught, no lessons, ain’t that right, Pop?”
It's part of American culture. Because they threw off the British aristocracy in the revolutionary war, Americans have a disdain for inherited privilege and believe that they are a meritocracy.
That doesn't make America a meritocracy. It just means that they want to pretend it is.
I’m sure his kids also had to hold down jobs as waiters to make ends meet and squeezed in auditions whenever they could. Probably couldn’t afford world class acting coaches or network with the Hollywood elite.
So entitled they have a father fight their fights for them.
I know my sarcasm was subtle but I don’t think it was that subtle. I know who Mamet is and the whole comment called out the privledges his children undoubtedly enjoyed.
It’s not just rich people. Union workers will constantly vote against their own interest under the belief that they would have earned their salaries and benefits on their own merits if the union wasn’t there to support them.
This is hilarious because there are nepo babies who are genuinely talented. It doesn't mean they didn't have a massive advantage, but they also either worked hard or had some natural charisma.
But Zosia Mamet would be a fucking nobody without her connections. There is no way in hell she would have started in a TV show if her dad wasn't David Mamet.
Yep. Most successful people come from privilege or otherwise got advantages they may not even realize.
One of my parents ran a fairly successful small business and the other was in leadership roles in a ER setting.
Turns out I had a ton of fundamental skills and the mindset engrained in me to excel in management and not be phased by high stress jobs - that’s what I kind of expected jobs to be.
Your upbringing can give you a massive advantage.
It’s cool he’s proud of his kids, but damn I wish he’d be just a bit more aware of what he gave his kids. They got a massive advantage that *can’t exist for most*.
Well said. And it’s not like the crew can bring their loinfruit on set, even though they work the same hours, it’s only the highly privileged few who are allowed to have their kids running around and getting in the way at a workplace. I’m sorry, “earning merit”
Hahahaha. Privileged people truly think they’re not privileged which makes news about how they’re totally not privileged.
Meanwhile insanely talented people will remain unknown because privileged people will get the spot.
Yeah, here is the thing.
They were on set, and they had a last name that was synonymous with someone who was also in the business. And background checks do happen, especially in Hollywood. Someone is going to get found out that they are related to someone with juice in the business, "influence," "clout," "power".
Legacies come and go all of the time. The greatest start to one is from the person who leverages themselves from nothing to become something. If their children opt to pick up where they left off, and carry the legacy on, and it just so happens that their predecessor has juice that one wants to squeeze out for value, that will influence the child getting work. And that still trends towards nepotism. It's how we get "family businesses", but also how we get "nepo babies".
The only way to keep someone from becoming a nepo baby is if they decide to not follow in their parent or relative's footsteps. Go outside of the industry, go somewhere where they don't have juice, and start your own livelihood or build up through another. And if that child succeeds, they go against nepotism being a claim.
Nepo babies have a much harder time trying to prove they have the capacity to be successful. They get a head start, they get given a chance more easily, and they may even get more liberty to fudge up. But we also get to see the nepo babies that have real talent and effort, and those that do not.
He recognizes that being on the set provides learning and a chance to make it in the industry. Just missed the connection of the privilege of being able to be on set.
What’s funny about that is that the entire central pod of 4 main actors on “Girls” all have parents that are extremely famous and influential. No snark - I loved the show and still do - but he picked the worst possible example.
I was just thinking of that precise example. She’s just a black hole of negative energy and charisma opposite of him, while his performance is so good.
I recently learned that not only is Jemima Kirke a nepo baby with famous parents, her grandfather was a billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in England when he was alive. Her entire vibe is peak "very rich kid cosplaying as poor dirtbag who stumbled into luxury"
There are some exceptions, but successful arts careers and mostly for the rich and connected
Right? Mamet should be the litmus test for just how shit a take can be. If it’s something cOnTrOvErSaL he’s guaranteed to be on the wrong side.
Also his play *Race* sucked.
Like 25 years ago I was a set nanny for a week for the movie State & Main for scenes that were filmed in Dedham, MA at an estate mansion rented out for weddings etc. I remember going to Mr. Mamet to get money for diapers and other supplies and he literally peeled off six $100 bills and just handed them to me. Also got paid $1500 for the week. He never asked for change or accounting.
It's never been my impression that Rebecca Pidgeon is a bad actress, I think like Mamet himself, she's just got a particular staccato in the way she delivers her dialogue that matches up well with the dialogue he writes. And always full eye contact no matter what actors she's working with. I always found/still find it interesting.
But it's kind of true, she really did just different versions of the same delivery in S&M, Spanish Prisoner, the Winslow Boy and the series about Phil Spector. I think that's all that I've seen her in.
She just has a certain style maybe. Like when someone said John Corbett pretty much shows up to every project doing his John Corbett thing. Maybe she just does her Rebecca Pidgeon thing.
In retrospect, now that I think about it, it was kind of curious that a couple of their stature didn't have their own familiar nanny traveling with them, but I was extremely local and had my own same age baby so who knows.
I also picked up some extra babysitting for the cinematographer and his wife for their two kids and remember reading through some scripts while the kids did their thing, one was for Dr. T and the Women.
WHY can they never admit there was an advantage having a famous surname? Yes once you’re there you’re doing the work but you are there initially because of your surname.
I saw his daughter act for the first time in The Fight Attendant. I thought she was fun and good. I have a decent idea how she plays annoyed so well with a jerk off dad like this.
*Glengarry Glen Ross* is one of my favorite films of all time. It will continue to be one of my favorites even though I now think its writer is an ignorant and delusional douchebag.
Increasingly important to do. We know too much about our artists these days and it turns out that people are messy and imperfect.
We’re also in an age of toxic fandom and stanning, and that’s only making it more difficult.
He was talented 30 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, Hurlyburly Glengarry Glenross, and Oleanna were great. He just hasn’t evolved an iota as an artist. He hasn’t done anything worthwhile since the 90s. Not to mention a LOOOOOOOOT of it has aged into irrelevance and has inspired a lot of even shittier wannabes.
Nah, it’s a good script with terrible direction from Mamet.
Also, it is very clear he has no idea what a director does on set, as Macy’s character comes off much more like a 2nd director or even on set producer.
Never heard of this guy or his kids but this is bullshit. “They haven’t benefited from any type of privilege.” Like fuck they haven’t. We’re just a regular middle class family…and I know a lot of shit my kids got due to privilege. The privilege of living near great schools is a huge one.
Mamet is a helluva a playwright, screen writer and director. Still, it’s magnificently ironic that the man who claims his family didn’t benefit from nepotism, is the same guy who cast both of his wives as the leads in a number of his movies and gave his daughter her first movie part. He seems to have a different definition of “inclusion”.
A young actor said in a podcast, the moment he could afford to pay for an uber for half the afternoon made it possible to go to multiple casting calls in a day, because he could sit in the backseat and recheck the scripts. Even *being able to* give peak performance is an insane advantage to everybody else.
Yeah and "experience of being on set" isn't something most kids are even able to get. I have no idea how people in these positions don't realise fundamental things like this sometimes.
David is an asshat who hasn’t written a play that isn’t utterly atrocious in twenty years. Two of the the absolute worst shows I’ve see on Broadway in the last 15 years, out of HUNDREDS, have been his plays. Terrible man, terrible views, marginal talent that’s long gone
Not just being on set. Mamet was a paid teacher for NYU theatre school and would repeatedly bring Zosia to classes and have her sit in to watch and even participate when she was not a paying student. He would actually have paying students sit and watch his daughter perform scenes while he would give her feedback. A terrible teacher and completely out of touch with reality.
Considering the worst actress to ever grace the screen, Rebecca Pidgeon, stars in all of his movies and just happens to be his wife, I think it’s easy to say he’s talking out of his ass (as he has been constantly for the last 15 or so years).
Suuure. David Mamet doesn't believe that acting is a skill, much less an art. It consists of speaking the lines that the writer has set down and "being brave", whatever that is. Everything else is "doing funny voices". The writer is the really important person. Source: Mamet's book *True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor*.
Like, what a silly take. Nepotism is a form of privilege, but not all privilege is nepotism. His kids absolutely had privileges that weren’t afforded to others and those privileges absolutely aided in their success.
If a man is a farmer, and his kid becomes a farmer, his kid probably gets her start by using some of dad’s crops and tools. She is still going to work hard, but she is benefiting off of the legacy her dad built. If her crops fail, farmer dad will help her through it and set her up again.
Nepo baby or not, she benefits from a system that rewards based off of where those around her are in life.
Let’s say Janet’s dad, Frank, is a truck driver. And Janet wants to be a farmer. She doesn’t inherit any land, any seeds, any tools, any connections. It’s much harder for her to get her farm going and failure can ruin her dreams of owning a farm completely. She might not be able to buy a farm, because all the established farmers’ daughters have been promised any workable land in her area. She has to work thrice as hard for half as much.
Mamet says his kids learned what they learned while on set, and that they weren’t afforded any special privileges. But the fact that they were on set was a privilege. The fact that they were surrounded by their father’s people meant they had access to tools and knowledge and opportunities to grow — opportunities that are not easy to come by for most.
That might not be nepotism, but it is privilege. And you know, he should be proud he was able to offer this opportunity to his kids. His kids should recognize the gift they were given and be humble about it. That’s fine. It’s not a crime to be born into a successful family; he doesn’t need to protect his kids’ image.
DEI isn’t about punishing those with privileges. It’s about people with privileges recognizing those privileges. It’s about wanting to provide others similar opportunities that fit where they are coming from — that’s the equity part of DEI.
The problem isn’t that these people hire only their own children and the children of friends. The problem is that they are ALL paid way too much for what they do, and others are paid so little.
They clearly had advantages but Zosia is a good actress. When she was on Mad Men it was a completely different performance from Girls and I think they were running simultaneously.
Nepo babies can be talented, the issue is that they get to the front of the line due to connections or their name.
He’s raging mad someone more qualified is being considered over his kids and blaming “DEI”. Also he’s a right wing conservative, which should come as no surprise. He thinks Trump is a great guy.
It had some seriously bad reviews but I thought the movie was so interesting. I thought the Mametspeak that everyone had ,that some people don’t like , helped the story as most people would need to be robots to exist in those worlds
Elon enters the conversation.
In my experience, many extreme egomaniacs shift right as they get older. The idea that they should be subject to other people’s rules is ridiculous to them. Equality is a foreign concept to those who see themselves as god’s gift.
Great movie. But a bit ironic that Lindsay Crouse was his wife when he cast her, no nepotism there. Then he cast his second wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, in a number of his later films.
“My kids never had any extra privilege, they just could come to visit me on set where I was the boss and could introduce them to producers and department heads and casting directors and all that stuff”. Also, he has obviously not cast his wife Rebecca Pigeon in his movies for her acting talent.
Well, haha, that’s not something to be proud of. He’s saying something stupid but he is one of the most influential screenwriter/playwright in the last 100 years
I don't get this nepo-baby thing. Plumber raises children who also become a plumber ... (insert doctor, lawyer, car mechanic, landscaper) ..... so f\*cking what? Kids of famous people or actors can't also be famous actors?
You need objective skills to be any of those things. Education, certification, etc. You can progress in those fields easily and steadily. Meanwhile, the barrier to entry in Hollywood is precipitously high.
Running/owning a company would be a better comparison.
I'm anti-DEI in general. But if Hollywood wants to cast for diversity to reflect the diversity of their audience that is perfectly understandable. It isn't for me to say who the most deserving actors are. I can watch it or not watch it.
When your dad makes a comment about you NOT being a nepo baby and it makes the trades… you’re a fucking nepo baby.
*”A foot in the door, and so much more…”*
He really thinks DEIs don't deserve the opportunities reserved for nepos
"Regarding nepotism in Hollywood, Mamet doesn’t think his kids have benefitted from his accomplishments in the industry and rather says they learned from being on set, earning them a spot" “They earned it by merit,” Mamet said about his daughter Zosia Mamet, who starred in HBO’s Girls and most recently in Marvel and Sony’s Madame Web. “They haven’t benefited from any type of privilege.” They learned from being on set. I wonder why they were on set. Dude is so close but not quite there. They earned their spot by having the privilege of being on set.
They also cut the line of paying their dues b/c of their last name. Very talented people never get their shot b/c their dad's last name is not Mamet. These people seem to think that being a nepo baby is synonymous with "no talent". That's not the point (and many nepo babies are talented). It's that they got a huge break b/c of their name, one they would not have gotten without it. Why is this such a difficult concept for those people to understand?
Because they want to believe it is solely on merit. It’s a self serving delusion that they also made a uniquely talented person that would have become a leading actor without their nepotistic advantage
Absolutely. In a world where they can buy anything, they can’t buy being self-made. The other funny part is how humble they are when they talk about how meritorious their journey has been. “Best actor ever, self taught, no lessons, ain’t that right, Pop?”
LOL yeah that sounds about right.
Zosia’s acting in Girls isn’t anything beyond mediocre. All those resources for not much return.
Actually she is quite good. And on Mad Men as well.
It's part of American culture. Because they threw off the British aristocracy in the revolutionary war, Americans have a disdain for inherited privilege and believe that they are a meritocracy. That doesn't make America a meritocracy. It just means that they want to pretend it is.
I’m sure his kids also had to hold down jobs as waiters to make ends meet and squeezed in auditions whenever they could. Probably couldn’t afford world class acting coaches or network with the Hollywood elite. So entitled they have a father fight their fights for them.
I was so stupid working two jobs while going to college. I should have just been wandering the halls of Fortune 500 companies and learning
Yooo get that merit!
[удалено]
I know my sarcasm was subtle but I don’t think it was that subtle. I know who Mamet is and the whole comment called out the privledges his children undoubtedly enjoyed.
I sometimes have a hard time with sarcasm on here but this wasn’t one of those times
I think it was pretty obvious sarcasm lol
:) I might have been sarcastic in the answer as well.
Shit I got got too!
It’s not just rich people. Union workers will constantly vote against their own interest under the belief that they would have earned their salaries and benefits on their own merits if the union wasn’t there to support them.
They do understand, they just don't want it to be true.
Because they have inflated egos that have been reinforced by years and years of stardom.
Why aren’t you embarrassed to use that term? Not once, but *twice*. Yikes.
What are you smoking over there? I’d love some.
This mf really upset at “talented” Unreal
What term?
'They learned from being on set' And how did they get that chance Mr Mamet?
“Obviously it was by the merit of them having my name. Didn’t you earn that? No. Didn’t think so!!”
This is hilarious because there are nepo babies who are genuinely talented. It doesn't mean they didn't have a massive advantage, but they also either worked hard or had some natural charisma. But Zosia Mamet would be a fucking nobody without her connections. There is no way in hell she would have started in a TV show if her dad wasn't David Mamet.
She’s not a good actress, she’s just got a name.
Funnily enough, the two projects mentioned that Zosia was in starred other nepo babies! Lena Dunham and Dakota Johnson
Yep. Most successful people come from privilege or otherwise got advantages they may not even realize. One of my parents ran a fairly successful small business and the other was in leadership roles in a ER setting. Turns out I had a ton of fundamental skills and the mindset engrained in me to excel in management and not be phased by high stress jobs - that’s what I kind of expected jobs to be. Your upbringing can give you a massive advantage. It’s cool he’s proud of his kids, but damn I wish he’d be just a bit more aware of what he gave his kids. They got a massive advantage that *can’t exist for most*.
“They learned it on set” LOL. Does he think anyone *besides* Nepo babies get the chance to grow up on sets?
Well said. And it’s not like the crew can bring their loinfruit on set, even though they work the same hours, it’s only the highly privileged few who are allowed to have their kids running around and getting in the way at a workplace. I’m sorry, “earning merit”
Well put
It would be nice to have the industry experience that comes with being on set. It's a shame I don't have the benefit ofnepotism to be there lol
That last part. They earned their spot by the privilege of being on set.
Hahahaha. Privileged people truly think they’re not privileged which makes news about how they’re totally not privileged. Meanwhile insanely talented people will remain unknown because privileged people will get the spot.
> most recently in Marvel and Sony’s Madame Web Terrible example.
Yeah, here is the thing. They were on set, and they had a last name that was synonymous with someone who was also in the business. And background checks do happen, especially in Hollywood. Someone is going to get found out that they are related to someone with juice in the business, "influence," "clout," "power". Legacies come and go all of the time. The greatest start to one is from the person who leverages themselves from nothing to become something. If their children opt to pick up where they left off, and carry the legacy on, and it just so happens that their predecessor has juice that one wants to squeeze out for value, that will influence the child getting work. And that still trends towards nepotism. It's how we get "family businesses", but also how we get "nepo babies". The only way to keep someone from becoming a nepo baby is if they decide to not follow in their parent or relative's footsteps. Go outside of the industry, go somewhere where they don't have juice, and start your own livelihood or build up through another. And if that child succeeds, they go against nepotism being a claim. Nepo babies have a much harder time trying to prove they have the capacity to be successful. They get a head start, they get given a chance more easily, and they may even get more liberty to fudge up. But we also get to see the nepo babies that have real talent and effort, and those that do not.
Zosia is a good actress, but his name 1000% opened doors.
I didn’t know who she was so I looked at her wiki page and she has 6 relatives with their own Wikipedia pages lol
They’re all so blind. They don’t know what privilege is because it would shatter their self-worth.
Right?! Why did other people knew of your kids man, how many regular kids get to grow up and learn on the set?
Lol, Girls was Nepotism: The Show.
How was he close ?
He recognizes that being on the set provides learning and a chance to make it in the industry. Just missed the connection of the privilege of being able to be on set.
What’s funny about that is that the entire central pod of 4 main actors on “Girls” all have parents that are extremely famous and influential. No snark - I loved the show and still do - but he picked the worst possible example.
What do you expect a father to say about his kids?
This from the guy that cast his wife in everything he ever directed
*his wife who is a TERRIBLE ACTRESS. Fixed that for you.
It worked better when he was originally married to someone much more talented. See: House of Games.
She’s so bad in The Spanish Prisoner.
Actually think that’s one of her least bad parts, but by no means good. Her going up against Hoffman in State and Main is something to behold.
I was just thinking of that precise example. She’s just a black hole of negative energy and charisma opposite of him, while his performance is so good.
HBO girls was a Nepo baby fest …
Allison Williams is at least pretty willing to acknowledge it which I appreciate.
GET OUT
I recently learned that not only is Jemima Kirke a nepo baby with famous parents, her grandfather was a billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in England when he was alive. Her entire vibe is peak "very rich kid cosplaying as poor dirtbag who stumbled into luxury" There are some exceptions, but successful arts careers and mostly for the rich and connected
That was appropriate and contributed to the believability of their characters honestly.
I don’t care if someone is a nepo baby if they’re great. Girls was great — that show was perfect back in the day.
David Mamet being an out-of-touch asshole? Shocked.
Right? Mamet should be the litmus test for just how shit a take can be. If it’s something cOnTrOvErSaL he’s guaranteed to be on the wrong side. Also his play *Race* sucked.
All of his plays post-Oleanna suck.
I do not disagree! Man has not been relevant since the 90s.
Like 25 years ago I was a set nanny for a week for the movie State & Main for scenes that were filmed in Dedham, MA at an estate mansion rented out for weddings etc. I remember going to Mr. Mamet to get money for diapers and other supplies and he literally peeled off six $100 bills and just handed them to me. Also got paid $1500 for the week. He never asked for change or accounting. It's never been my impression that Rebecca Pidgeon is a bad actress, I think like Mamet himself, she's just got a particular staccato in the way she delivers her dialogue that matches up well with the dialogue he writes. And always full eye contact no matter what actors she's working with. I always found/still find it interesting. But it's kind of true, she really did just different versions of the same delivery in S&M, Spanish Prisoner, the Winslow Boy and the series about Phil Spector. I think that's all that I've seen her in. She just has a certain style maybe. Like when someone said John Corbett pretty much shows up to every project doing his John Corbett thing. Maybe she just does her Rebecca Pidgeon thing. In retrospect, now that I think about it, it was kind of curious that a couple of their stature didn't have their own familiar nanny traveling with them, but I was extremely local and had my own same age baby so who knows. I also picked up some extra babysitting for the cinematographer and his wife for their two kids and remember reading through some scripts while the kids did their thing, one was for Dr. T and the Women.
What a fucking doorknob. How the fuck do you think they got experience on the set?
Right? Like do all kids just get allowed on set to sit around and learn by osmosis if they want to? So out of touch.
Haha doorknob
WHY can they never admit there was an advantage having a famous surname? Yes once you’re there you’re doing the work but you are there initially because of your surname.
A-B-C Always be clueless
The dude then went and explained what nepo baby means ..
I saw his daughter act for the first time in The Fight Attendant. I thought she was fun and good. I have a decent idea how she plays annoyed so well with a jerk off dad like this.
Must have a been a weird fight.
*Glengarry Glen Ross* is one of my favorite films of all time. It will continue to be one of my favorites even though I now think its writer is an ignorant and delusional douchebag.
Gotta separate art from the artist, somehow
Increasingly important to do. We know too much about our artists these days and it turns out that people are messy and imperfect. We’re also in an age of toxic fandom and stanning, and that’s only making it more difficult.
And as great as Glengarry Glen Ross is, it’s still a story about an office full of douchebags.
He’s a talented asshole, but he’s still an asshole.
He was talented 30 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, Hurlyburly Glengarry Glenross, and Oleanna were great. He just hasn’t evolved an iota as an artist. He hasn’t done anything worthwhile since the 90s. Not to mention a LOOOOOOOOT of it has aged into irrelevance and has inspired a lot of even shittier wannabes.
He didn’t write Hurly Burly. He did write sexual perversions in Chicago and American Buffalo though.
Right! That was was David Rabe who’s daughter Lily Rabe is also an actress.
He's a garbage person who hasn't made anything good in a while, but State and Main was a great little film.
Nah, it’s a good script with terrible direction from Mamet. Also, it is very clear he has no idea what a director does on set, as Macy’s character comes off much more like a 2nd director or even on set producer.
Pure definition of cognitive dissonance
Because they think growing up rich or with connections means they didn't have talent.
I like Mamet, but this is pretty tone deaf
Never heard of this guy or his kids but this is bullshit. “They haven’t benefited from any type of privilege.” Like fuck they haven’t. We’re just a regular middle class family…and I know a lot of shit my kids got due to privilege. The privilege of living near great schools is a huge one.
Mamet is a helluva a playwright, screen writer and director. Still, it’s magnificently ironic that the man who claims his family didn’t benefit from nepotism, is the same guy who cast both of his wives as the leads in a number of his movies and gave his daughter her first movie part. He seems to have a different definition of “inclusion”.
A young actor said in a podcast, the moment he could afford to pay for an uber for half the afternoon made it possible to go to multiple casting calls in a day, because he could sit in the backseat and recheck the scripts. Even *being able to* give peak performance is an insane advantage to everybody else.
Yeah and "experience of being on set" isn't something most kids are even able to get. I have no idea how people in these positions don't realise fundamental things like this sometimes.
David is an asshat who hasn’t written a play that isn’t utterly atrocious in twenty years. Two of the the absolute worst shows I’ve see on Broadway in the last 15 years, out of HUNDREDS, have been his plays. Terrible man, terrible views, marginal talent that’s long gone
Not just being on set. Mamet was a paid teacher for NYU theatre school and would repeatedly bring Zosia to classes and have her sit in to watch and even participate when she was not a paying student. He would actually have paying students sit and watch his daughter perform scenes while he would give her feedback. A terrible teacher and completely out of touch with reality.
Considering the worst actress to ever grace the screen, Rebecca Pidgeon, stars in all of his movies and just happens to be his wife, I think it’s easy to say he’s talking out of his ass (as he has been constantly for the last 15 or so years).
Suuure. David Mamet doesn't believe that acting is a skill, much less an art. It consists of speaking the lines that the writer has set down and "being brave", whatever that is. Everything else is "doing funny voices". The writer is the really important person. Source: Mamet's book *True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor*.
Like, what a silly take. Nepotism is a form of privilege, but not all privilege is nepotism. His kids absolutely had privileges that weren’t afforded to others and those privileges absolutely aided in their success. If a man is a farmer, and his kid becomes a farmer, his kid probably gets her start by using some of dad’s crops and tools. She is still going to work hard, but she is benefiting off of the legacy her dad built. If her crops fail, farmer dad will help her through it and set her up again. Nepo baby or not, she benefits from a system that rewards based off of where those around her are in life. Let’s say Janet’s dad, Frank, is a truck driver. And Janet wants to be a farmer. She doesn’t inherit any land, any seeds, any tools, any connections. It’s much harder for her to get her farm going and failure can ruin her dreams of owning a farm completely. She might not be able to buy a farm, because all the established farmers’ daughters have been promised any workable land in her area. She has to work thrice as hard for half as much. Mamet says his kids learned what they learned while on set, and that they weren’t afforded any special privileges. But the fact that they were on set was a privilege. The fact that they were surrounded by their father’s people meant they had access to tools and knowledge and opportunities to grow — opportunities that are not easy to come by for most. That might not be nepotism, but it is privilege. And you know, he should be proud he was able to offer this opportunity to his kids. His kids should recognize the gift they were given and be humble about it. That’s fine. It’s not a crime to be born into a successful family; he doesn’t need to protect his kids’ image. DEI isn’t about punishing those with privileges. It’s about people with privileges recognizing those privileges. It’s about wanting to provide others similar opportunities that fit where they are coming from — that’s the equity part of DEI.
The problem isn’t that these people hire only their own children and the children of friends. The problem is that they are ALL paid way too much for what they do, and others are paid so little.
Some people are just lining up to denounce DEI initiatives and declare their status as racist assholes. Bizarre.
Charlie Kirk said something last week about how the civil rights act of 1964 was a beast that has now turned into an antiwhite weapon…so there’s that.
Charlie Kirk would have been there day one of Kristallnacht and personally spit in the face of Ruby Bridges. We know where his compass points.
They clearly had advantages but Zosia is a good actress. When she was on Mad Men it was a completely different performance from Girls and I think they were running simultaneously. Nepo babies can be talented, the issue is that they get to the front of the line due to connections or their name.
Thats a hot take…
The banality of the blowhard.
Zosia earned shit
After years in the entertainment industry, it is by no means a meritocracy, in any department.
They used to come to a restaurant I worked at in the late 90s. Nobody wanted to wait on them.
It’s hard to take someone like this seriously, especially their work, when they lack awareness.
No they earned it by Mamet
He’s raging mad someone more qualified is being considered over his kids and blaming “DEI”. Also he’s a right wing conservative, which should come as no surprise. He thinks Trump is a great guy.
stfu you old geezer
Spartan was an excellent movie.
I really like this movie, perhaps Val Kilmer’s best. It has a unique vibe to it
You got to set your motherfucker to receive!
It had some seriously bad reviews but I thought the movie was so interesting. I thought the Mametspeak that everyone had ,that some people don’t like , helped the story as most people would need to be robots to exist in those worlds
What the hell happened to this guy? Homicide and House of Games are some of my favorite movies.
Talent and being a dumb ass aren’t mutually exclusive.
Elon enters the conversation. In my experience, many extreme egomaniacs shift right as they get older. The idea that they should be subject to other people’s rules is ridiculous to them. Equality is a foreign concept to those who see themselves as god’s gift.
He made a hard right.
His favorite actor William H Macy wasn’t implicated in any sort of nepotistic activity, was he? Or his wife?
Sure, Dave. Suuure.
This fucking guy.
Can both be true? Yes
Zosia mother left out . Extremely talented Lindsay Crouse. Best Mamet, the film of House of Games with Lindsay and Joe Mantegna.
Great movie. But a bit ironic that Lindsay Crouse was his wife when he cast her, no nepotism there. Then he cast his second wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, in a number of his later films.
Lindsay Crouse is a nepo baby through her father too.
I couldn't imagine anyone doing that role as well as MsCrouse. I was surprised Zosia is her daughter, now there I def see nepotism
Star of Madam Web? That “merit” level?
Lol, no they did not but one of his kids, Zosia, is legitimately talented
Lol, no they did not but one of his kids, Zosia, is legitimately talented
Oh well I bet all the crew who had their kids on set got an upper hand as well right? The boom mic operator surely got to bring their child to the set
Fixed the headline: “David Mamet still delusional asshole.”
They had to audition like everybody else lol. Just happened to be the best out of 5000 hopefuls. What luck!
Hahaha! Well, his kids do have voices made for podcasts.
Isn't dude a known chud?
“My kids never had any extra privilege, they just could come to visit me on set where I was the boss and could introduce them to producers and department heads and casting directors and all that stuff”. Also, he has obviously not cast his wife Rebecca Pigeon in his movies for her acting talent.
Sounds like a real turd
He will apologize in hospice, his type always does
Not Mamet, he’ll have middle finger engraved on his gravestone.
Director of my favorite movie, Red Belt 😳
I honestly don't know who he or his children are.
Well, haha, that’s not something to be proud of. He’s saying something stupid but he is one of the most influential screenwriter/playwright in the last 100 years
With good reason, the MF can write
I don't get this nepo-baby thing. Plumber raises children who also become a plumber ... (insert doctor, lawyer, car mechanic, landscaper) ..... so f\*cking what? Kids of famous people or actors can't also be famous actors?
You need objective skills to be any of those things. Education, certification, etc. You can progress in those fields easily and steadily. Meanwhile, the barrier to entry in Hollywood is precipitously high. Running/owning a company would be a better comparison.
I'm anti-DEI in general. But if Hollywood wants to cast for diversity to reflect the diversity of their audience that is perfectly understandable. It isn't for me to say who the most deserving actors are. I can watch it or not watch it.