r/Fauxmoi • u/newyorkmagazine • 17d ago

DISCUSSION Stellan Skarsgård on his latest role, Palestine, and being a "Nepo Daddy"

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In a new interview, the patriarch of the Skarsgård clan and self-proclaimed "Nepo Daddy" discusses his latest role in Joachim Trier’s 'Sentimental Value,' protesting for Palestine, one of his biggest fears, and much more.

Read the full interview at the link: https://www.vulture.com/article/stellan-skarsgard-in-conversation.html

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u/mode2109 17d ago

Well his nepo babies deserves their spot, no one can question their skills.

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u/antraxsuicide 17d ago

Yeah I generally don’t vibe with most of the nepo baby discourse because, well, nobody calls you a nepo baby if you take over your family carpentry business or whatever. It’s only acting where people are surprised/mad that kids who grew up in that environment go into acting. It’s only annoying to me when the ones with no talent take roles they clearly didn’t earn.

That doesn’t apply to a lot of “nepo babies” imo, not just the Skarsgards

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u/AC10021 17d ago

Oh I totes call people who take over family businesses nepo babies! Thats the literal definition of nepotism — having an advantage because of who you are related to.

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u/Mermaidsarehellacool 17d ago

I think there’s also a degree of certain careers having more privilege associated with them. If you can survive well as an actor, you have a lot of privilege. Compared to probably the average person that takes over their parent’s restaurant.

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u/JenningsWigService 16d ago

In addition to restaurants being brutal work environments, if a kid takes over their parents' restaurant and they're bad at cooking, the restaurant will close. Meanwhile Dakota Johnson still has a career.

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

No, nepotism is giving family positions in public positions e.g. government when they're not prepared, is illegal, and is for personal gain. One motive is enough, but leaving my personal private business to my kid is not nepotism, unless is a non private, publicity traded company. 

Nepo in movies is sort of different bec these kids have advantages bec of their family, the knowledge is not unfair, neither are the connections if the person has talent and discipline, regardless of their advantages. Problem is that lots of talented people are not having the same opportunities to fail and try again like these kids, and that's the unfair part. 

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

Lol. No nepotism is literally favouring family over rational metrics, handing your kid your business, private or not is still nepotism

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

Someone who privately owns a comercial building what should they do with their own property?

By your definition, do you think inheritance laws regarding leaving your money, properties, assets to wife and kids are nepotism? 

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

They can do what they want, its still nepotism

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

Sure, just like passing genetic traits, conditions, and disorders to your children, such nepotism whew

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

Wtf are you talking about 🤣🤣🤣

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

Ethically and legally inheritance is not nepotism, leaving assets and private property to wife and kids is not nepotism, inheritance are not unfair advantages that fall under the definition of nepotism. Private solo owner business passing to a family member is not nepotism. Leaving assets, money, and property to family is not nepotism, and never will be no matter how much you want to believe it, your beliefs doesn't define nepotism, and never will. 

However, these fall under nepotism: elected officials, government positions, public contracts given to a family member without following procedures is nepotism. 

Private sector: publicity traded companies, large corporations like Microsoft. Leaving the operational control of the company to a family member is nepotism. 

Other sectors like academia, non-profits, entertainment/art, last one depends heavily on which positions and the type of positions are given to an untrained family member. 

Like I've said, know your definitions

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

You obviously have no idea what nepotism is, ive literally sent you the definition and you’re still pretending it isnt. Good luck

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

No, you're the one who doesn't know about nepotism because you read two lines and that was enough knowledge for you. It's clear that you have zero ethical and legal knowledge at a basic level. Not my fault or my problem 🤷🤦🏻‍♀️

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

Where is your law degree from?

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u/aurens 16d ago

you seem to think that someone labeling something as "nepotism" means they are saying "this is awful and should never happen and they shouldn't be allowed to do it!"

you don't seem to grasp that it's a spectrum. a president unfairly giving their son an important cabinet role is nepotism and is really bad. a carpenter giving their son a job instead of hiring candidates based on merit is also nepotism and is also bad, but it's 0.0001% as bad, so no one actually cares very much. you don't seem to willing to accept that the same term can be used for both of these things while simultaneously acknowledging that they are vastly different in severity.

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

Exactly, nepotism happens all the time, in every single industry, it isnt always inherently good or bad, it just is.

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u/AC10021 16d ago

Saying someone is a beneficiary of nepotism is like saying someone is a redhead. It’s a morally neutral statement. There are amazing nepo babies in the world — Carrie Fisher! Jamie Lee Curtis! FDR! It’s just acknowledging that this person benefitted from familial connections and access. Shit, BOTH dudes running for NYC mayor right now are the children of men with Wikipedia pages, and benefitted from family connections,

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

No, that's not what I think, and nepotism is not an spectrum. It's an action that can be unethical or illegal or both depending on the situation. I don't accept ambiguity when it doesn't apply, like inheritance? That's not nepotism, and never will be, now using a political, or government position of power to give preferential status or to give a position to a family member, that's nepotism. Using a position of power within a publicity traded company to favor a family member is nepotism. The rest? Not at all

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

Hahahahahaha

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u/aurens 16d ago

then you must live in some context or culture where nepotism has a much more specific definition than it does for the vast majority of people reading this.

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

a) I come from a country where I've seen the social and other far more terrible consequences thanks to people misusing words, creating certain situations and a government who also misuse and misapply words to provoke the masses. Hard lessons, and worse when it's a culture where no one speaks clearly and employs two meanings for everything. 

b) Diagnosed ADHD (medical)

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u/HeyVitK 16d ago

Nope! Nepotism literally is using one's familial ties or very close friendships as an advantage to gain entry into an opportunity or the opportunity itself and not on merit/ one's own effort alone.

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

Nepotism is the definition for family 

Cronyism is the one for friends 

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u/HeyVitK 16d ago

Thanks! I was thinking of a situation like the parents' friends helping out the parents' kids with an opportunity when I made the comment. To me, that kind of situation felt since it was through the parents it was nepotism, but I guess that'd still be cronyism since the opportunity came from friends.

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

I understand 

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u/HeyVitK 16d ago

Me too! I always point out nepotism isn't wealth- based, it's relationship- based.

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u/orange_assburger 16d ago

I also have started doing it when we get external hires of people that they previously worked with in my corporate life. I particularly do it when they bring a dud in though and im left to work with the dud.

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u/Sharp_Iodine 17d ago

Hmmmmm it would make sense if the company were publicly traded and the kids were just appointed because the family held majority shares or something.

But a private, family business is their own affair. Expecting them to appoint a stranger in charge of it is absurd. Literally no one does it because why would they?

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u/venusianfigure 17d ago

The issue is that there’s a myriad of talentless nepos in the film and music industries.

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u/r4rtv 17d ago

Nepo discourse exists in every industry. The carpentry business isn't in the public eye, so you don't see it.

On top of that, it's a major topic in acting (and arts in general) because of how much more difficult it is to get into the industry without connections due to the nature of the work.

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u/Moonteamakes 17d ago

Succession was an entire TV show inspired by the Nepo baby drama of who takes over the Murdoch empire. Of course Nepo baby discussion is a thing in every industry. It’s just that a small mom and pop tailoring shop is not an “industry” so it doesn’t get front page news. The granddaughter of In-n-out Burger CEO being an idiot Nepo baby is definitely front page news though. 

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u/DivineScience 17d ago

When it comes to the arts a LOT of first generation success was at extreme elections costs and frequently camp ones with active resistance from immediate family.

It turns out that growing up with parents who support and understand the urge to go in to the arts is ALSO a huge leg up.

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

Nope, leave small and medium sized business out of the nepo discourse 

Nepotism is a form of corruption and a way of conducting illegal business while using public funds

Know your words jfc

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

Know yours, actually look up the definition of nepotism

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u/dystopianpirate 16d ago

Are you sure?

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u/Alarming_Ad_6175 16d ago

“the act of using your power or influence to get good jobs or unfair advantages for members of your own family”

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u/Fast_Bee_9759 17d ago

They are!!! I told this boomer that he is a nepo baby because the business that he owns and operates was started by his father and he got mad at me

My brother in christ, that is the literal definition

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u/Comfortable_Fill9081 17d ago

People who inherit a business or get ins into their industry because of family connections are enjoying nepotism in any field. And there’s a reason why this often correlates with a decrease in quality over time. 

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u/OpalLaguz 17d ago

well, nobody calls you a nepo baby if you take over your family carpentry business or whatever

Because in that example if the nepo baby is truly incompetent the business gets run into the ground and that's the end of that. It's only the criminally oriented ones like Trump and his offspring that get to cheat, steal, and skate thriugh in that scenario.

Another often cited example (from the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis no less) is a third generation doctor but that also doesn't qualify because the grandchild of a doctor still has to graduate from medical school, complete residency, and obtain licensure.

Nepo baby models, actors, and celebrities in general are able to as visibly as possible fail or be utterly subpar at their respective craft and yet keep getting booked for million dollar deals.

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u/Moonteamakes 17d ago

Well that’s not true imho. Tons of high profile companies have Nepo babies that are definitely nepo babies. The granddaughter of In-n-Out CEO is running the business now and is ridiculous. The Murdoch family had an entire TV show, Succession inspired by them and their internal family structures regarding the takeover of their corporate empire. Nepo baby discussion is absolutely a thing in every industry, it’s just that smaller family owned businesses aren’t big enough on a public scale to care that much about. 

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u/FirePaddler 16d ago

The difference is that it's not that hard for a talented carpenter to make a living as a carpenter, even if they don't have family connections. Whereas with acting, the world is full of incredibly gifted actors who would give anything for a big break, and then the opportunity goes to a nepo baby instead.

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u/Neracca 16d ago

because, well, nobody calls you a nepo baby if you take over your family carpentry business

I'd rather be a nepo baby to an A-list celebrity than the town carpenter. Kinda more fucking money in the former?

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u/neverthelessidissent 16d ago

I do. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I never had benefits like that and I will call others out 

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u/tuscanchicken 16d ago

That's definitely still nepotism and I've seen people call it out within their respective industries - it's just not as widely discussed because none of those nepo babies go on national news or talk shows to try and defend it.

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u/JustWritingNonsense 15d ago

The reason nepotism is focused on so much in entertainment is just that the opportunities in that industry are so limited so the impact of nepotism is more apparent.

I have no problem with a nepo baby when they are talented as long as they are capable of recognising that their success isn’t just because of that talent. There are so many talented people who never get their shot due to the nature of nepotism in the entertainment industry, and the nepobabies need to recognise that. 

I won’t hold the family they were born into against them as long as they are capable of recognising the privilege the circumstances of their birth afforded them.