It’s got to be a different type of struggle to be a child of a famous couple. Stars like George Clooney and Billie Lourd have been vocal about their children’s privacy, but once those children grow up they face completely different obstacles. For people like Zöe Kravitz, who is the adult child of musician and actor Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, breaking into Hollywood as their own person presents a challenge. Ahead of The Batman’s big release, Kravitz has now opened up about what it was like trying to separate herself from her famous parents and become her own Hollywood professional when securing roles.
Being the daughter of two famous people, Zöe Kravitz has always had to deal with the pressure of a Hollywood legacy, and still is at times on the receiving end of trolling comments. In an interview with Elle for her feature issue, Kravitz opened up about feeling “embarrassed” about her famous last name when she was in her younger years, and that people would assume her achievements were as a result of her famous parents.
With the Mad Max: Fury Road actress being now in her 30s, she has had to remind herself that she has put in the work to be where she is now. The effort she put forth was not from where she started in this world, but where she wanted to find herself because the work is something she loves to do. Here it is in her own words:
There was a little bit of embarrassment around what came with my last name. People would always assume that if I got a job, it was because of that. That was hard. But I was incredibly privileged. I got an agent easily. I’m not going to pretend like it didn’t help me get into the room. But I had to remember that I work hard, and as a child I was putting on performances in my grandparents’ house. And it had nothing to do with who my family was. It was because I loved it.
While she admits that she was privileged to be born into a Hollywood legacy, she also gives herself the credit she is due. She may have gotten her foot in the door easily, but it is talent that has kept her in the room.
In the same interview, Zöe Kravitz talks about needing to prove to herself that she deserved space in that room. Now that she is established in the industry with some pretty solid roles, she doesn’t mind talking about her famous parents as she feels confident she can stand on her own with what she has accomplished. This is how she explains it herself:
[I was] wanting to prove not only to the world, but to myself, that I deserve to take up space in the industry. I’m proud of where I come from. Now it’s nice to be in a space where I feel like when people ask me about my parents, I’m not like, ‘Let’s not talk about that.’ I’m like, ’They’re awesome. I’m grateful to be their child. And I also am my own human being.)
Her sentiments are much like those of other great Hollywood actors who also happen to be the child of big stars. Denzel Washington’s son John David Washington has spoken about his famous father as well, and he has broken out as his own big name star in recent years.
The battle of breaking away from the hold of being a child of famous people is pretty much at an end for Zöe Kravitz, as arguably her biggest role yet is steadily approaching. Her unique take on Catwoman in The Batman opposite Robert Pattinson is probably one of the most anticipated new movie releases of 2022, and you can finally check it out in just a week’s time as it releases next Friday, March 4th.
