It is fairly frequent for fogeys to maintain some household secrets and techniques till their children are older. They will vary from delicate (like grandma’s well-known pie recipe) to momentous (like a hidden half-sibling). However think about in case your dad and mom informed you that they have been truly among the most well-known performers on the earth!
Listed below are 27 celebs who hid their fame from their children:
1.
Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Tune share two younger youngsters, Dakota and Carson. In 2025, Mac informed Scorching Ones, “My children don’t know that me and Brenda are well-known. They see mama on TV. When she’s not round, I placed on Suite Life…and what Dak stated? He goes, ‘Sometime I need to develop up and marry a woman simply as fairly as London Tipton.’ …However they’re totally unimpressed that we’re on TV and stuff like that. I am not intending to lift a nepo child.”
He continued, “It is like I have been well-known, like, nearly my complete life. I take my children to highschool and the opposite children go, ‘That is Dak and Carson’s dad.’ And I am dad-famous there, and I need to preserve that up, even when it is simply non permanent, even it is simply an phantasm. I’ve by no means felt extra well-known, like extra full well-known, than that. I attempt to, on the very least, sustain the phantasm.”
2.
Zach Galifianakis has two sons. His youthful son is called Rufus, however his older son’s title has by no means been shared publicly. In 2021, Zach informed Leisure Tonight, “My children suppose I am a librarian someplace. They do not even know. They suppose I am an assistant librarian someplace… You wanna shield their innocence as a lot as potential. They’re simply youngsters. Individuals used to come back as much as me and be like, ‘Oh, my children love The Hangover,’ and I am like, ‘You’re a horrible mother or father.’ They should mature just a little bit earlier than they see that.”
3.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has two younger sons, Sebastian and Francisco. In 2019, he informed Us Weekly, “They know I present up on TV typically, however in addition they don’t know [why]. They know that Daddy makes issues up, and I feel they’re very pleased with that. That makes me very proud.”
4.
In 2021, Kate Winslet informed the Instances that, when her three youngsters — Mia Threapleton, Joe Anders, and Bear Winslet — have been younger, she protected them from her fame as a lot as potential. For instance, if she was on {a magazine} cowl, she’d take them to highschool through a unique route that prevented newsstands. Likewise, once they performed at their buddies’ homes, she’d politely inform the dad and mom that they did not speak about her work.
And it was efficient! When Joe was 17, he was shocked that 400 individuals watched her digital Q&A. He responded, “That is hundreds! Good, Mum. Properly carried out!” Equally, Mia solely found her mother’s position in Jude from another person who labored on the film. Kate stated, “I’ve simply by no means rammed it down their throats. I simply do not go on about it. I am going to work. It is onerous and troublesome, and after I come residence, I do not need it to be onerous and troublesome anymore. I need to snuggle up, learn them James and the Big Peach, and have some toast.”
In 2025, Mia, who’s additionally an actor, informed Elle, “I actually might depend on one hand — each palms probably — the quantity of instances that I went to set as a child. My mom actually strived to maintain that world separate from our residence life. That is one thing that she actually needed. She would say, ‘All of their experiences might be theirs and theirs alone’ —which is strictly what has occurred.”
5.
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski have two younger daughters, Violet and Hazel. In 2021, Emily informed the Instances, “I actually perceive that, what Kate [Winslet] did. I actually get it… It is a unusual factor to navigate, . As a result of Hazel got here residence the opposite day, and we have been within the kitchen, and she or he goes, ‘Are you well-known?’ And I would by no means heard her … we have by no means stated that phrase in our home. We do not speak about it… Somebody in school had clearly stated it. I used to be like, ‘Um…not likely, I do not suppose I’m. Did somebody say that to you, Haze?’ She stated, ‘Yeah,’ however then she would not expose rather more, , however it’s bizarre. It is bizarre.”
She continued, “I do not need my children to really feel any extra necessary or particular or that there is a glare on them any greater than different children. If they’ll stay oblivious for the longest time, I would be thrilled. They do not even need to see what I do. They do not even prefer it after I placed on make-up. They do not like all of it! They only need me to be their mummy.”
Then, in 2022, John informed Late Evening with Stephen Colbert, “They actually simply began watching The Workplace. By the way in which, ‘began watching,’ I confirmed them one episode. Their precise quote — we have been driving, and from the backseat, I heard, ‘So what is the cope with this Workplace factor?’ And I used to be like, ‘It is a huge query. We’ll lower it down into bite-sized morsels.’ So, Emily was like, ‘Simply present them the pilot.’ And so, they have been watching the primary episode, and my oldest, seems she’s a screen-talker-atter. So, she’s speaking to the display screen. And so, when Steve fired Jenna, she goes, ‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’ After which she goes, ‘You are a horrible individual!’ And I stated, ‘You must meet Steve Carell.'”
He continued, “After which, my six-year-old saved asking, ‘Is that you just?’ And I stated, ‘Yeah, it’s.’ She goes, ‘You look very totally different.’ And I used to be like, ‘Okay, I am going to strive to not take that as a hurtful factor, however positive.’ And she or he goes, ‘You look very totally different.’ And I stated, ‘No, that is me. I am simply enjoying a personality.’ And she or he went, ‘That is not you’ after which watched two extra episodes being like, ‘That is not you. Man appears so much such as you, although.'”
John added that Emily had a “head begin” on being “cool” of their children’ eyes as a result of she was in Mary Poppins Returns. He stated, “And I feel that my children thought that she had married me out of, like, charity. They have been like, ‘You are so good to marry an accountant. That is so good of you.’ ‘Trigger they do not know what I do… I feel [they think I work in an office]. The rationale why I feel that’s, I used to be strolling them to highschool sooner or later, and this man got here up. He was very good. And he got here up, and he went, ‘John! from The Workplace!’ And I went, ‘Yeah.’ And he went, ‘Oh my God, it is so good to see you!’ And I stated, ‘Thanks!’ He saved strolling, and she or he stated, ‘So do you’re employed with him?’ And I went, ‘No.’ And she or he goes, ‘Why are you mendacity to me?’ And I went, ‘I am not mendacity to you.’ And she or he goes, ‘No, he simply stated he is aware of you from the workplace.'”
6.
Khloé Kardashian’s younger youngsters, True and Tatum, do not know she’s a actuality star. In 2025, she informed the On Goal Podcast, “We went to a restaurant the opposite night time, and the waitress saved calling me by my title. She was like, ‘Khloé, would you like one other drink?’ No matter. And True was going, ‘How does she know who you might be?’ And I am going, ‘Oh, I simply come right here on a regular basis.’ Which I do not, however they do not notice that we’re on TV. Like, they do not know the distinction, ‘trigger I am not speaking about it. I feel that is so humorous to me that she’s like, ‘How does any person know your title?’ Or she’ll say, ‘Why do they need an image with you?’ I am going, ‘Perhaps she likes my hair.’ I at all times attempt to say, like, one thing and brush it off. I do not know. I do not wanna make a giant deal out of it.”
She continued, “You recognize, for my children, True, she has an iPad that they’ll watch exhibits or no matter when doing her hair, however I’ve restricted iPad time. And I inform her she will be able to’t have a telephone till she’s 12, and who is aware of if I am going to preserve that. I do not suppose children want it apart from that. I feel they’ve these superb telephones which might be only for calling…there is not any web entry. And so I am like, ‘Sure, you could possibly have considered one of these telephones, which is to name me. However in any other case, I do not need you taking a look at this stuff.’ She’s not on Instagram or TikTok or that type of stuff. I do not suppose that is vital at this age. I feel it is actually damaging.”
7.
When Kim Kardashian’s oldest three — North, Psalm, and Chicago — have been all nonetheless little or no, they did not know she was such a giant movie star. In 2018, Kim informed This Morning, “It is fairly intense, however at residence I am not recognized. My children don’t have any clue what is going on on. So I do not actually really feel it — I spend most of my time at residence.”
8.
Kelly Clarkson’s son and daughter, Remington and River, weren’t very conscious of her fame once they have been little. In 2019, she informed Individuals, “I feel they have a look at me as ‘Mother,’ so they do not actually even [think about it]. [Remington] has no thought. They’re simply very regular. We’re not like, within the scene, ever.”
9.
Lincoln Park co-founder Mike Shinoda’s three youngsters have been nonetheless very younger when his band’s seven-year touring hiatus started. In 2024, he informed The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon, “One in all my daughters stated, ‘Oh, , I signed as much as play this track at this faculty pageant sort of factor.’ This woman does not know find out how to play guitar. She took two classes at that time; this was a pair years in the past. I assume it was in all probability like per week or two later, I am listening, and I am listening to her doing her factor, and she or he’s received most of it. Like, she’s getting actually fairly far, however there is a couple issues she’s not doing accurately — like, one of many chords is unsuitable, for instance. I used to be like, ‘How’s every little thing going?'”
Mike tried to assist his daughter get the chord proper, however her response was, “Yeah, no matter.” Nevertheless, the following day, she modified her tune. He continued, “She got here to me and was like, ‘Hey, Dad, um, are you able to present me that chord?’ And I used to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, cool. No downside.’ I simply thought, ‘Oh, she got here round.'” However his spouse, Anna, stated, “That is not what occurred.
Anna informed him, “I heard you two speaking initially, and [their daughter] was like, ‘Get out of right here, ‘ principally. Like, ‘do not inform me find out how to play.’ … After you left, I went within the room, and I used to be like, ‘Hey, like, you must hearken to your dad.'” Mike stated, “And my daughter goes, ‘What does HE learn about performing?’ My spouse actually pulled up a video of Linkin Park, onstage at, like, Rock in Rio in entrance of 85,000 individuals. And she or he exhibits it to her, and my daughter goes, ‘Who’s that?'”
10.
Ricky Martin saved his fame hidden from his oldest two, twins Matteo and Valentino, till he felt they have been sufficiently old to know. In 2016, he informed Individuals, “They’re at all times with me and at all times touring and on the street with me, however I at all times saved them backstage. Their notion of my job was to see me from the facet singing, however they did not know to what. At some point, after I thought that they have been sufficiently big, I stated, ‘Go to the entrance of the home,’ and so they see the lights and the entire spectacle. When the present was over, they got here to me and stated, ‘Papi, you are Ricky Martin.’ I stated ‘I am not Ricky Martin, I am your father.’ They stated, ‘No, no, no, you are Ricky Martin,’ and so it modified.”
11.
Luke Combs’ two sons, Beau and Tex, are nonetheless toddlers. In 2024, Luke informed This Previous Weekend with Theo Vonn, “I nearly fear about them, like, discovering out what I do in some methods… I give it some thought so much, … It is gonna sound bizarre. It is like, you nearly want they might simply not know in some methods, and never as a result of I do not need them to know. That is not what I am getting at. It is like, I nearly need them to only be, like, naive to the entire thing for so long as is humanly potential. Like, I need them to be, the one factor they’re frightened about is driving bikes and enjoying vehicles and, , driving round on the Polaris with Mother and Dad.”
“However there will get to some extent, like, , as quickly as faculty is looming, . I’ve received another artist buddies which have children, and so they’re like, ‘Properly, you gotta inform them, or any person else is gonna inform them,'” he stated.
12.
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel attempt to preserve life as regular as potential for his or her two sons, Silas and Phineas. In 2021, Jusin informed the Armchair Skilled podcast, “I attempt to take heed to ensuring we will stay a life the place we’re not weirdly personal, however we’re aware of constructing positive they are often children for so long as potential. And never have the load of any person else treating them in another way due to one thing that their dad and mom do.”
Addressing podcast host Dax Shepard’s related considerations about his personal youngsters, Justin added, “We’ve this identical factor the place, like, the children in school with my 5-year-old are like, ‘Your dad is Department [from Trolls].’ For guys like us, , the hope is that we simply preserve instilling in them that we received actually enjoyable jobs, however it’s not who we’re. Hopefully, down the street, then that has extra weight to it, I assume.”
13.
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell’s two younger daughters, Delta and Lincoln, did not notice their dad and mom have been well-known. Showing on Late Evening with Stephen Colbert in 2019, Dax stated, “They know that Mother is Princess Anna from Frozen. They know that. They perceive it… They have been to set. They’ve seen us work. They’ve seen billboards round city, and folks have taken photographs of us once we’re out and about. However, I used to be speaking with my daughter. She stated, ‘Why do individuals hearken to the podcast? Do they pay attention for you or Monica?’ My co-host. And I stated, ‘Properly, I guess it is fifty-fifty.’ And she or he stated, ‘Okay, however that is why they began listening?’ And I am going, ‘Properly, I feel initially they began listening ‘trigger they knew me and never Monica.'”
“‘Properly, why did they know you?’ I am going, ‘Properly, ‘trigger I am well-known.’ And she or he goes, ‘You are well-known?’ And I am going, ‘Yeah, hun, like, , I am on TV, and that is why individuals take photos of us.’ She’s like, ‘Does Mother know?’ And I am going, ‘Honey, Mother’s extra well-known than Dad.’ And she or he goes, ‘Mother’s well-known too?’ And I used to be like, ‘What is occurring proper now?’ She understands how we’re making a residing, however this phrase ‘well-known’ was its personal factor that, like, at kindergarten, I assume, we have been abruptly Taylor Swift or one thing. Or Pink. I do not know. Very bizarre although, proper?” he stated.
14.
Pamela Anderson’s sons, Brandon and Dylan, noticed individuals visiting her on the Baywatch set “on a regular basis,” however they “didn’t get it trigger they have been so younger.” Nevertheless, they understood that their dad, Tommy Lee, was a giant title. In 2015, Pamela informed Individuals, ‘They’d say, ‘My dad’s a rockstar, and my mommy rescues animals.’ That’s all they knew.”
However when the boys enrolled in surf camp, they have been shocked to learn how well-known she was. She stated that, after their first day, “They got here as much as me, and so they stated, ‘Mother, are you Pamela Anderson?’ And I stated, ‘Yeah.’ They have been like, ‘What’s that?’ And ‘Why are individuals saying this stuff? Are you Pamela Anderson for actual? Like, what’s going on?’ ‘Properly, yeah.'”
15.
When Hilary Duff’s son Luca, her oldest baby, was 5, he began to determine she was a star. In 2017, Hilary informed Late Evening with Seth Meyers, “He is beginning to determine increasingly. He is very humorous. He is seen me on the quilt of magazines within the grocery retailer. I actually suppose he simply thinks the following day Shane’s mommy goes to be on the quilt of {a magazine}… I feel some little rascal in school informed him what my title is. Luca did not know my title, after which he stated to me, ‘I do know your title.’ And I stated, ‘I do know.’ And he stated, ‘I do know your title.’ And I used to be like, ‘Okay.’ And he was like, ‘Hilary Duff.'”
16.
Jersey Shore star Snooki satisfied her oldest two — Lorenzo and Giovanna — that she’s well-known for a unique cause. In 2021, she informed Us Weekly, “Each [of my eldest two] children suppose I am an actress. I inform them that it is not actual. I am simply appearing, like, I am enjoying a job, that is what they suppose. … I do not suppose they’re prepared for that but. In order of proper now, I’m an actress.”
She stated she deliberate to inform them, together with their child brother Angelo, the reality once they flip 16 or 17. She stated, “They’re going to type of get it [then]. Like, ‘Hear, Mommy had some loopy years earlier than she was a mommy. She let free. So no matter you see on TV again then, simply do the alternative of what I did.'”
17.
As a child, Kaia Gerber did not actually perceive how well-known her mother, Cindy Crawford, was as a result of she “would separate her busy residence life and work life the very best that she might.” In 2017, Kaia informed Teen Vogue, “I feel it was solely on my eighth birthday, at Disneyland, that I began to know what was occurring. I needed to take photos with the princesses, and everybody needed to take photos together with her!”
18.
When Jessica Alba’s daughters, Honor and Haven, have been youthful, they did not know she acted. In 2014, Jessica informed E! Information, “[Honor is] nonetheless making an attempt to know what I do as a result of it is not like I [tell her]. She goes to my workplace at The Sincere Firm and is like, ‘That is mommy’s work.'”
19.
Jodie Foster did not inform her sons, Package and Charlie, that she was an actor once they have been children. In 2024, she informed The View, “I do not know why, I assume I simply did not need them to know me that approach. I needed them to know me as their mother and the one who went away to work and stuff. I simply did not need them to be confused about what I did for a residing.”
She added, “I introduced my oldest son, he was in all probability about 3 — properly, he was 3, as a result of I used to be pregnant with the opposite one — I introduced him to set sooner or later, and I purchased him just a little plastic software belt and stuff. And I used to be like, ‘Yeah, and that is this set and this set and this set.’ And for a very very long time, he thought I used to be a development employee. He thought I did development.”
20.
When Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling’s daughters, Esmeralda and Amanda, have been a bit youthful, they did not perceive that their dad and mom have been actors. For instance, whereas watching her dad movie a battle scene with Harrison Ford in Blade Runner 2049, Esmeralda shouted, “You are profitable!” And when Ryan shot First Man, each women informed individuals he labored on the moon. In 2022, he informed GQ, “I feel they lastly figured it out… that my title is definitely The Grey Man, and I am an murderer for the CIA.”
Nevertheless, the children had a favourite film from their dad and mom’ filmography — Eva’s 1999 flick a couple of child who turns right into a pig. Ryan stated, “My Brother the Pig was a giant hit. I extremely advocate it, by the way in which. Eva’s superb in it.”
21.
Alexa Ray Joel has two iconic dad and mom — Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley. In 2010, Alexa informed New York Journal, “I received the double whammy. It is powerful to stay in that shadow … I have been pushing and pulling, and I am nonetheless combating my approach out of it. My dad and mom tried to defend me from how well-known they have been after I was rising up on Lengthy Island. I had no thought. When all people stated, ‘Whats up, Billy! Whats up, Christie!’ — I simply thought they have been common.”
22.
Neve Campbell’s older son, Caspian, came upon she was well-known in school when he was in second grade. In 2020, Neve informed Individuals, “I did not inform him for a really, very very long time till one of many dad and mom at his faculty informed him. He got here residence from faculty and stated to me, ‘Mommy, are you Neve Campbell?’ It was a really unusual dialog. I am like, ‘Okay, let’s speak.’ I did not really need it to affect him in any approach.”
23.
Cate Blanchett’s 4 children — Dashiell, Roman, Ignatius, and Edith — “don’t know, no thought” she’s such a star. They’re additionally “disinterested” in her fame “in the absolute best, healthiest approach.” In 2022, she informed Web page Six, “I informed them, ‘Oh, I’ll New York for 36 hours. I will be again on Wednesday…’ One in all them is getting an award in school, and so they went, ‘Oh, OK, have a superb time.'”
24.
Nick and Vanessa Lachey’s three younger youngsters — Camden, Phoenix, and Brooklyn — “began to” notice their dad and mom have been well-known when Camden began faculty. In 2021, Vanessa informed Drew & Jonathan, “On the primary day of college, Camden got here residence and requested, ‘Mommy, the place have been you right now?’ I stated, ‘I used to be at residence, child.’ And he stated, ‘Properly, my buddy stated she noticed you on High Chef Junior.’ And I stated, ‘Oh, that is a present.’ And he stated, ‘Is that on tv?’ Quick-forward, and Daddy received The Masked Singer, and the children in his class have been amazed.”
Nick added, “On the finish of the day, we at all times come again to, ‘We’re simply Mother and Dad, finish of story.’ What we do for a residing could also be totally different. However we’re no totally different from anybody else.”
25.
A part of the rationale Lily Allen agreed to carry out with Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury in 2024, was to impress her preteen daughters, Marnie and Ethel. On The Jonathan Ross Present, Lily stated, “I used to be type of, like, barely anticipating her to introduce me, and folks be like, ‘What? Who?’ But it surely wasn’t like that. It was actually, actually superb. Individuals went completely ballistic, and so I used to be actually, actually overwhelmed. However my children have been identical to, ‘What’s going on?’ As a result of they, , Olivia Rodrigo is, like, their idol, and so they could not actually get their heads round the truth that individuals have been type of screaming even louder for me than they have been for her at some factors… They have been very, very confused. Then we type of received off stage, and so they did not actually wanna speak to me. They have been a bit kind of, like, overwhelmed by the entire thing.”
She continued, “And we received within the automotive on the way in which again, and Marnie checked out me, and she or he went, ‘So, have been you type of common then?’ I used to be like, ‘Yeah.’ She was like, ‘Properly, like, within the charts.’ I used to be like, ‘Sure!'”
26.
Natalie Portman has a son named Aleph and a daughter named Amalia. In 2018, when the children have been round 7 and 1, she informed Fatherly, “I have not proven my children the [Star Wars] motion pictures but — I feel it is so bizarre for them to consider me as something apart from their mother. They’ve seen the latest Star Wars motion pictures that I’m not in — my son has, my daughter is just too younger. It feels actually fortunate to be a part of one thing that is each kid’s imaginary world. It’s totally thrilling to have the ability to impress my children just a little bit.”
27.
And eventually, Tom Hanks’s 4 grownup youngsters clearly know what an icon he’s, however not his grandkids! His oldest son, Colin, has two daughters, Olivia and Charlotte, who “do not care about him in any respect.” In 2019, Colin informed Us Weekly, “[Their playdates are] like each different playdate with a grandparent. The grandparent offers them stuff they should not be having, and the grandparents do not hearken to what the dad and mom are saying they need to be doing.”
Colin additionally stated that, regardless that he tells them “day-after-day,” his children do not understand how “cool” he’s. He added, “Youngsters are nice humblers. They do not care what you do [or] … what you might have carried out. They only need to do their child stuff.”
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