NEED TO KNOW
Sam Nivola is getting candid about the nepo baby label.
The White Lotus star, 21, addressed finding success in the entertainment industry as the son of actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola.
“Other than my genes, I don’t think I can attribute much of my success to my parents,” he told Variety. “I feel proud that I’ve done it for myself, and sometimes in spite of them.”
Emily Mortimer/Instagram
Sam landed his first role in the 2022 film White Noise, playing the on-screen son of Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig’s characters, after his high school drama teacher helped him get an audition.
“I didn’t get my dad’s agent to call up so-and-so,” he said of the role. “I did it by myself. I didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to be able to say that anything I’ve achieved has been because of anyone other than me. And I’m proud of that.”
Despite pride in his work, Sam knows the recent attention he has received from playing Lochlan Ratliff on The White Lotus season 3 has little to do with his talent.
“But that just goes to show the trappings of fame because I’m not half as talented as my father or my mother,” he said of getting asked to take selfies while taking walks with family.
Sam also addressed the criticism of his White Lotus character and his incestuous storyline with his brother Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger).
“It was at times painful. It’s hard when people view your character as a monster or pervert or freak,” he admitted of the online chatter about the character.
“It was hard feeling like people had lost sympathy for this guy that I lived inside. I got a little defensive,” he added. “You have to love your character, otherwise you’re f—–. My character jerked off Patrick. I don’t like that. It’s a bad thing he did. But I try not to pass judgment.”
Sam admitted that following the release of White Lotus, he was offered roles that were “socially awkward, virginal kids who are a little weird.”
However, things are slowly changing.
“I’m starting to feel a little boxed in by the characters I’ve played in my career,” he said. “But I’m also finally getting offers to do things where I’m a little more grown up. Hopefully the next one will be something a little different.”
Stefano Delia/HBO
He previously revealed during a conversation with Cooper Koch for Variety’s Actors on Actors that both his parents actually advised him against following in their footsteps.
“My whole thing was that my parents really didn’t want me to be an actor, which I totally get — I don’t know if I’d want my kid to be an actor,” he admitted to Variety. “It’s a really mentally tough career to be in.”
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He continued, “Even if I had no success, I would want to be doing it. But they really didn’t want me to do it.”
