Catherine Zeta-Jones & Michael Douglas' Daughter Carys Has Strong Thoughts About Being A Nepo Baby

Nepotism has been a bit of a dirty word in the public mind. The inherent title denotes a certain level of ease to success and access to fame that, without a parent's help, would be otherwise far from the picture. In turn, nepo babies are oftentimes dismissed for their efforts when it comes to their individual successes and achievements. This experience is not lost on Carys Zeta Douglas, the daughter of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The young girl who was once only captured in rare family photos by Zeta-Jones is now photographed on red carpets and film premieres and has a lot to say on the concept of nepo babies.

"I think what bothers me the most is that people think I don't work hard for it, that I don't need to work hard for it. That anything I do gets handed to me," the now-Brown graduate shared in an August 2018 interview with Town & Country. "When, honestly, I feel like it's the opposite. I feel I need to constantly prove myself to people — that I am not just my parents' daughter." Her stern view on celebrity life seems to stem from a paparazzi run-in when she was only six. The event made her come to terms with her parents' fame and gave her an internal motivation to identify herself outside of it. Carys told the outlet, "That's when I knew, 'If this is going to be what it's like, I need to focus on who I really am, and this is going to be something that's just going to happen, and I can't do anything about it.'"

There was a period of time when the celebrity daughter quite hated the thought of being tied to her famous parents. Despite being the spitting image of her mother, and having both her mother and her father's movie-star last names, Carys Zeta Douglas loathed her success, image, and hard work being deemed dependent on her family name: "When I was younger I didn't like the idea of having this name attached to me, this kind of 'Douglas dynasty' stuff" (via Town & Country). However, Carys has seemingly accepted her family ties and carved out a successful path of her own. 

Graduating from Brown University seven years following her interview with Town & Country, Carys has since gone on to pursue an acting career. Appearing in the 2024 short film "F*** That Guy", and starring alongside Victoria Pedretti, Carys' first acting project went on a festival run that established the young actor in the world of filmmaking. Additionally, one of the executive producers on the project was filmmaker Spike Lee. As one role led to the next, Carys landed her second role in "Shell", another 2024 short film. But acting is not the only thing that Carys has a great talent for. The up-and-coming star in the making has also shared her singing chops with a self-written song shared to her Instagram.