Lily-Rose Depp rejects claims that she's a "nepotism baby"

17 November 2022, 12:39

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By Katie Louise Smith

"People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part."

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Both Maya Hawke and Maude Apatow have recently addressed nepotism baby claims that have followed them throughout their career so far... and now Lily-Rose Depp is addressing her own.

In case you hadn't already figured it out based on her surname, Lily-Rose is the daughter of actor Johnny Depp and French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, and since starting her career her 2014 she's been plagued with the ol' nepo baby comments.

Lily-Rose appeared in her first film at the age of 15 with a small role in the horror film Tusk (which also featured her father in an uncredited role). At the same time, she was chosen by Karl Lagerfeld to be Chanel's brand ambassador, following the footsteps of her mother who has been a Chanel brand ambassador since 1991.

She's gone on to appear in – and be nominated for – a handful of French films. Her biggest role to date is set to drop in 2023, as she stars as the lead opposite The Weeknd in HBO's The Idol.

Now she's calling out the "preconceived ideas" about nepotism and how she ended up with her place in the industry.

Lily-Rose Depp responds to nepotism baby claims. Picture: Emma McIntyre/SHJ2021/Getty Images, @lilyrose_depp via Instagram

Speaking to Elle, Lily-Rose called out the people chalking her presence in Hollywood up to her famous parents.

"I’m familiar," she said. "The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part."

Lily-Rose continued: "The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that."

"It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing. It just doesn’t make any sense. If somebody’s mom or dad is a doctor, and then the kid becomes a doctor, you’re not going to be like, ‘Well, you’re only a doctor because your parent is a doctor.’ It’s like, ‘No, I went to medical school and trained,’" she added, stressing that she was not comparing her profession to that of a doctor.

Lily-Rose then said that she finds it "interesting" that she rarely hears conversations about her male peers being referred to as a nepo baby: "I just hear it a lot more about women, and I don’t think that it’s a coincidence."

Lily-Rose Depp and Vanessa Paradis attend the Chanel Cruise Collection 2020 show. Picture: Getty

Lily-Rose also echoed that sentiment when she was asked about why she's chosen to avoid commenting on the recent headlines and court cases involving her dad and Amber Heard.

"I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever," she said. "And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there."