Any good parent knows there’s nothing they wouldn’t do for their children. But when you’re an A-list celebrity in Hollywood, the versatility of that statement knows no bounds.
Below are 15 actors who accepted roles solely to impress their children. When push comes to shove, they know that their kids are their biggest fans!
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Ozzy Osbourne appeared in Nick Jr.’s ‘Bubble Guppies’ to impress his grandchild..
“The whole reason I did the show was for Pearl,” Ozzy told Guitar World . “She has Nick Jr. on 24/7. I can’t wait to see her reaction when she hears my voice come from Sid Fishy’s mouth.”
Michael Sheen as Aro in ‘The Twilight Saga’.
When Michael initially accepted the role of Aro , he hadn’t read so much as a single ‘Twilight’ novel. He took the job solely to impress his 10-year-old daughter, who was utterly obsessed with the books at the time.
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in ‘The Lord Of The Rings’.
Viggo was a last-minute replacement for Stuart Townsend. Since he’d never read the books, Viggo was hesitant to accept.
Were it not for his 11-year-old son, we might never have seen Viggo as Aragorn.
Richard Harris as Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone’.
“I was asked about the part of Dumbledore, and I wasn’t going to do it for various reasons,” Harris told Zap2it . “Then my granddaughter Ellie telephoned me and said, ‘Papa, if you don’t play Dumbledore, I will never speak to you again!’”
David Bowie voiced Lord Royal Highness in ‘SpongeBob’s Atlantis SquarePantis’.
Legendary rockstar David Bowie happily accepted his voice role in the ‘SpongeBob’ universe. At the time, it was his six-year-old daughter’s favorite TV show. On his blog, David referred to the role as the ” Holy Grail ” of animation jobs.
Idris Elba as Shere Khan in the live-action remake of ‘The Jungle Book’.
Idris said that the best part about signing on to do voice work for The Jungle Book was that finally his son and daughter would be able to see a Disney classic and hear their own father’s voice.
Robert Downey Jr. voiced Patrick Pewterschmidt in ‘Family Guy’.
You may have forgotten that RDJ had a small part in Family Guy , portraying Lois’ long-lost brother, Patrick. Robert was actually the one to reach out to Seth MacFarlane since his own son was such a huge fan of the show.
Raúl Juliá as M. Bison in ‘Street Fighter’.
Raúl Juliá is perhaps best remembered for playing Gomez Addams in The Addams Family . He took the role of M. Bison solely for his children, whose favorite video game at the time just so happened to be Street Fighter .
Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin in ‘The Hunger Games’.
Julianne began reading ‘The Hunger Games’ books to her children while they were away on vacation. She said that appearing in a project with her kids’ approval made it all the more special.
Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne in ‘Batman VS Superman’.
“I did Batman because I wanted to do it for my kids,” Ben said on the Awards Chatter podcast. “I wanted to do something that my son would dig. I mean, my kids didn’t see Argo . I wore the suit to my son’s birthday party, which was worth every moment of suffering on Justice League.”
Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews in ‘Divergent’.
Kate told MTV News , “My daughter suddenly [had a] new-found respect. ‘My mum is actually really cool.’ I’m just going to go with that. I did it because I wanted my kids to think I was cool.”
Will Smith as Oscar in ‘Shark Tale’.
Will told Today that, “As soon as you see one of these casts come together, you’re like, ‘Okay, yeah, somebody’s kid just turned seven. Somebody’s kid just turned seven.’ That’s why they are doing this.”
His own daughter, Willa, was three at the time.
Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge in ‘The Muppets Christmas Carol’.
Michael Caine told GQ that he loves The Muppets Christmas Carol . “And it was absolutely perfect at that time for what I wanted. I could make it, and my daughter could see it. That’s why I did it. And it was lovely.”
Larry David made a cameo appearance on ‘Hannah Montana’.
Larry David might come off as a bit of a curmudgeon but he’s really just a big softy underneath it all. He made a cameo appearance on Hannah Montana (as himself) simply to impress his daughters.
Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu in ‘Pokemon: Detective Pikachu’.
During an interview with Cinema Blend , Ryan said “I was excited to do a film that my kids would love. I don’t do a lot of films that are not rated R. For me, that’s a big one.”
