- Joined
- Oct 13, 2014
- Messages
- 11,060
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- Location
- Wisconsin
- Gender
- Female
- Political Leaning
- Progressive
A favorite subject of mine is relatives in entertainment.
Well-known relatives. Like when I was 20 and my 8-year-old brother was watching "Bundle of Joy" with me starring Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, and I was able to impress him with the information that Princess Leia was the real live bundle of joy of the stars of that movie.
Lesser known relatives. Like when I was able to recognize a juvenile "best friend" in a black and white 1950's sitcom as maybe being related to an older comedic actress I knew from a Hayley Mills movie in the 1960's ... and I was right.
Possibly well known but less obvious -- like when I learned George Clooney and Miguel Ferrer were cousins.
And in a special category, relatives who play the same character but at different ages. Like when Gillian Anderson's sister played young Dana Scully in X-Files.
And today I was gobsmacked by a new entry into the latter category. In Young Sheldon, I thought the casting department just did a really good job of finding a semi-random actress who was able to channel Laurie Metcalf's inflections and mannerisms from Metcalf's role as the older Sheldon's mom on Big Bang Theory. Because she sure doesn't LOOK like Laurie Metcalf to me. But lo and behold ... it turns out Young Sheldon's mom is Laurie Metcalf's actual daughter. So she kind of had a headstart on that voice!
Well-known relatives. Like when I was 20 and my 8-year-old brother was watching "Bundle of Joy" with me starring Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, and I was able to impress him with the information that Princess Leia was the real live bundle of joy of the stars of that movie.
Lesser known relatives. Like when I was able to recognize a juvenile "best friend" in a black and white 1950's sitcom as maybe being related to an older comedic actress I knew from a Hayley Mills movie in the 1960's ... and I was right.
Possibly well known but less obvious -- like when I learned George Clooney and Miguel Ferrer were cousins.
And in a special category, relatives who play the same character but at different ages. Like when Gillian Anderson's sister played young Dana Scully in X-Files.
And today I was gobsmacked by a new entry into the latter category. In Young Sheldon, I thought the casting department just did a really good job of finding a semi-random actress who was able to channel Laurie Metcalf's inflections and mannerisms from Metcalf's role as the older Sheldon's mom on Big Bang Theory. Because she sure doesn't LOOK like Laurie Metcalf to me. But lo and behold ... it turns out Young Sheldon's mom is Laurie Metcalf's actual daughter. So she kind of had a headstart on that voice!