When it comes to choosing a work proposal, one must take into consideration a number of factors. For actors, something similar happens, except enhanced: picking a bad role could end their career while, on the other hand, choosing the right one could launch any actor to stardom, even if they are still taking their very first steps. This happened with Heath Ledger, who, back when he took on the role of The Joker for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, was strongly associated with teenage and romantic movies. He initially received backlash for his casting, as no one trusted Ledger’s abilities, yet this became his most iconic role. Unlike the rest of us, the characters chosen by artists will stick with them for the rest of their careers, hence the importance of selecting parts that represent them and enhance their skills. Otherwise, they may be faced with the same fate that befell George Clooney regarding his role as Batman in the 1997 film, a role that he still regrets today and begs his family not to watch.

Despite the many factors that actors must bear in mind when taking on future projects, oftentimes there is one thing that prevails above everything else: their love for their family. This is how many actors end up accepting roles to please their children or even to impress them. Such was the case with Richard Harris, known for portraying the wise Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts’ headmaster, for the first two movies of the Harry Potter saga. Harris turned down the role three times, even though the pay rose with each new offer. Eventually, however, he gave in when his granddaughter, who was 11 years old and a fan of the Harry Potter books, vowed that she would never speak to him again. Amusingly, many iconic film roles would not have happened if it weren’t for the actors’ children wanting them to occur. In this article, we will go over 10 actors who made movies specifically because of their children.

10 Angelina Jolie — Kung Fu Panda

     DreamWorks

Angelina Jolie has been involved in a number of projects for grown-up audiences, such as Gia, A Mighty Heart, and Wanted. However, in 2008, she stepped into kids’ movies to give voice to Master Tigress, one of the main characters in Kung Fu Panda. Her goal was to be a part of a family-friendly production that she could enjoy alongside her children. In fact, when filming Kung Fu Panda 3, per People, Jolie went one step further and invited four of her kids — Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and Knox — to join in by voicing some of the animated film’s supporting characters.

9 Michael Sheen — Twilight: New Moon

     Summit Entertainment

When Michael Sheen got the offer to join the cast of Twilight in the movie New Moon as Aro, one of the leaders of the Vulturi clan, the actor went along happily. Sheen, known among other things for his performances in plays and biographical movies, decided to be part of this teen saga mainly because of his daughter, who was a huge fan of Stephanie Meyer’s novels. Sheen later mentioned that, besides taking part in the project, he had read the books and liked them even more than he had expected he would.

8 Jennifer Garner — Yes Day

     Netflix

Jennifer Garner went above and beyond to please her children, per Cinema Blend, and apart from accepting a role in a project, she was also part of the production team. That project happened to be Yes Day, the 2021 Netflix movie directed by Miguel Arteta and inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s book of the same name. For one single day, Katie, Nando, and Ellie’s parents would say yes to everything they wished for. Garner’s children have loved the story ever since they read it and, as a family, they do one Yes Day a year. A sequel for this film was announced in July 2021, and is expected to feature the same cast.

7 Jamie Foxx — The Amazing Spider-Man 2

     Marvel Studios

Jamie Foxx is yet another actor on this list whose roles are mostly in R-rated films. Some of his most prominent roles were as Ray Charles in the biopic Ray and Max Durocher in Collateral. However, in 2014, he jumped into the skin of Electro, Spider-Man’s supervillain antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the saga directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield. The reason he accepted the role, later reprising it in the film Spider-Man: No Way Home, was his four-year-old daughter, who was a big fan of this Marvel superhero.

6 Ryan Reynolds — Detective Pikachu

     Legendary Pictures

Ryan Reynolds is known for his work in films such as Deadpool, Mississippi Grind and Buried. However, the vast majority of his films have one thing in common: they are not suitable for general audiences. This Canadian actor and his wife, actress Blake Lively, have three young children, who have never been able to watch their father’s movies, precisely due to the fact that they are not for children. That is why, when the possibility of starring in Detective Pikachu in the 2019 movie came up, Reynolds did not hesitate for a second to get involved in the project by giving voice and facial movements to the main character. Thus, he got to perform in his first children’s movie project and share it with his little ones.

5 Kate Winslet — Divergent

When Kate Winslet was offered the chance to be part of Divergent’s cast in 2014, many things motivated her to accept almost immediately. Firstly, the film was expected to be a blockbuster, based on Veronica Roth’s books of the same name and backed by a great screenplay. Moreover, the offer was for her to play Jeanine Matthews, the main villain of the film, something Winslet was very excited about. But the main reason she said yes was to impress her two children, who were pre-teens at the time. Winslet felt that these kinds of movies would appeal to her kids and would score her a few bonus points with them. Which is exactly what happened: not only her children, but also their friends were delighted with the actress’s part. A fun fact about Winslet’s involvement in the saga is that, when the movie was being shot, she was five months pregnant, so filmmakers had to get creative in order to hide her pregnancy belly.

4 Idris Elba — The Jungle Book

     Walt Disney Pictures

Idris Elba was involved in movies of every shape and genre, ranging from dramas and biographical productions to comic book and superhero based films, such as Thor, Avengers: Infinity War and The Suicide Squad. He is no stranger when it comes to children’s movies either, lending his voice for Finding Dory and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. However, the project that really captivated Elba was The Jungle Book, a live-action movie directed by Jon Favreau, in which Elba voiced Shere Khan. The main reason he took on this project was to give his children the opportunity to watch a classic movie such as The Jungle Book with their father’s voice in it.

3 Julianne Moore — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2

     Lions Gate Entertainment

The talented Julianne Moore boasts an impressive career and has appeared in all kinds of movies, wowing the audience with all of her roles. Her participation in The Hunger Games saga was motivated in part by her own personal pleasure and as a way to please her children. The kids were huge fans of Suzanne Collins’ books, and so was Moore, who read the first one during a vacation. Surprisingly for her, she ended up enjoying it so much that she went on to read the rest of the books. Later on, when she was offered a part in the film, she could not refuse. In the screen adaptation, Moore portrayed villain Alma Coin for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.

2 Cate Blanchett — Thor: Ragnarok

Cate Blanchett is a huge name in the cinematographic industry and one of the most prestigious actresses of her generation. The artist has won many awards, including two Oscars and three Golden Globes, and was involved in productions such as Elizabeth, Carol and Blue Jasmine. It was for all these reasons that Blanchett aroused the attention of the audience when, in 2017, she joined the MCU to embody the first woman villain in Marvel’s history: Hela, the Goddess of Death, in Thor: Ragnarok. Of course, her arrival in this universe, which was far from the films she had been working on so far, happened thanks to the persistence of her children, who loved superhero movies and Marvel in particular.

1 Viggo Mortensen — Lord of the Rings Trilogy

     New Line Cinema

It is very hard to imagine The Lord of the Rings trilogy without Viggo Mortensen’s performance as Aragorn. Nevertheless, he was not the first choice to play the character; instead, it was Stuart Townsend, who ended up being removed from the franchise on the very first day of filming due to artistic differences with the filmmakers. When Peter Jackson, the trilogy’s director, offered Mortensen the role, the actor had zero interest in the project, nor had he read the books. The person who made him change his mind was his son, an avid fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books, and thus Mortensen brought to life one of his most iconic characters to date.