What The Kids Of Sporting Legends Look Like Now They’re All Grown Up

We might as well start with Brooklyn Beckham, right? After all, he ranks among the most famous sports kids of his generation. And he has not just one but two celebrity parents: former England soccer star David and ex-Spice Girl Victoria. The teenager has subsequently become a tabloid star in his own right and is married to Nicola Peltz.

Brooklyn Beckham may hog much of the limelight, but it's arguably Romeo Beckham who most closely resembles his famous father. We're not just talking about his appearance, either. Romeo has followed in David's footsteps by choosing a career in professional soccer. He's currently signed to a one-year contract with the English National League side Brentford B.

If Romeo is going into his father's business, Cruz Beckham might just have designs on his mother's career. The Beckhams' youngest son is often described as an aspiring singer and can be seen on social media sharing his talent with the world. He even released a Christmas single back in 2016. The teenager was last seen, in October 2023, getting the tattoo "Brotherhood" with his two big bros.

Harper Beckham is the youngest of the Beckham clan, but people are still predicting big things for her in the future. Commenters thought that Harper's 12th birthday party at the Prade Caffè in Harrods, London, meant that she wanted to become a fashion designer. Harper's obviously still in (a very fancy) school for now, though, so only time will tell what the future holds.

Trevor Gretzky played every sport under the sun as a young man — apart from hockey. The son of NHL icon Wayne Gretzky eventually opted to focus on baseball, then switched to acting once he failed to turn pro. "Once they cut you, they cut you," he told Forbes in 2022, before adding, "I’m going to go follow my dream in film. I just put my head down and keep going."

Ken Griffey Jr. ended up pursuing the same sporting career as his famous father — but Trey Griffey decided to go in another direction. The son of the MLB Hall of Famer played college football for the University of Arizona, but his pro career never took off. Strangely enough, he was later also drafted into minor league baseball.

Cristiano Jr. is part of Manchester United's youth training system — and the 12-year-old could follow in his father's (rather large) footsteps. In December 2020, Ronaldo Sr. said, "We'll see if my son will become a great footballer. He has potential. He is fast and dribbles well, but that is not enough. I always tell him that it takes work and dedication to have success. I won't pressure him to become a footballer, but if you ask me if I want him to, yes I would like it."

Deion Sanders Jr. chose to emulate his father when he signed up for Southern Methodist University’s football team. But these days Deion Jr. seems more focused on his entrepreneurial businesses, such as his streetwear clothing brand, Well Off. Its best-selling product just happened to be a T-shirt emblazoned with the face of Deion Sanders Sr., too.

Josie Canseco sure has grown up since she was pictured as a toddler attending a fashion show with her baseball star father, Jose. Now a model, the 25-year-old has appeared on the reality show The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition with her mom, and she was named Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in June 2016. She also has 1.2 million followers on Instagram.

Patrick Schwarzenegger decided to follow in his father’s Hollywood footsteps, rather than his bodybuilding ones. The son of former Mr. Universe and The Terminator star Arnold made his acting debut in 2006’s The Benchwarmers. And 2022 saw him winning his highest-profile roles yet, with prominent turns in The Terminal List, Stowaway, and The Staircase. You'll next see him in a spin-off of The Boys.

Laila Ali won the WBC, IBA, and IWBF female super middleweight titles and finished her boxing career undefeated. So it seems fair to say that she inherited her late father Muhammad Ali’s talent in the ring. But that’s not too surprising, given that she’s the daughter of arguably the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. She's since done reality shows and other TV work.

As the son of Argentine legend Lionel Messi, Thiago will have a lot to live up to should he choose to pursue a career on the soccer pitch. As it stands, Thiago and Mateo Messi are part of the youth teams of Paris Saint-Germain — where dad Lionel plies his trade. Only time will tell if they have the skills to match their famous last names.

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal believed that his son Shareef could go on to be an even better player than he was. In fact, the Hall of Famer’s 6’9” offspring was hailed as one of America’s most exciting young prospects. But Shareef had to undergo heart surgery in 2018 and a foot injury kept him from playing a full college season in 2021-22. He currently plays in the NBA G League Ignite as a veteran player.

You’re more likely to find Magic Johnson’s son Earvin Johnson III near the catwalk than the basketball court. The flamboyant star of E! reality show Rich Kids of Beverly Hills infamously lost 100 pounds through the use of gastric surgery. He has plans to pursue a career in fashion, and he currently voices a character in Disney's The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

The son of NBA legend Michael Jordan has pursued sports and fashion careers. Marcus Jordan first played for the Conference USA team the UCF Knights before giving up his hoop dreams. After that, he launched a shoe store named Trophy Room in the Disney Springs area of Walt Disney World in Florida. The store is now exclusively online, but it's still going strong.

The daughter of tennis’ most argumentative player, John McEnroe, has only ever had eyes for the catwalk. By age 21, Emily McEnroe had already interned at Nasty Gal and Charlotte Ronson. She’s gone on to write about emerging designers as a guest Fashion Week blogger for Page Six. Now 31, McEnroe plans to make her mark on the acting world.

When your dad is a world-famous goalkeeper who captained none other than Manchester United to a historic treble, you might think that pursuing a career in a different sport would be a good idea. Yet Kasper Schmeichel not only followed his father into soccer, but he also played in the same position! Luckily, Kasper has enjoyed massive success with Leicester City and is currently playing for Nice.

Tiaura Iverson melted everyone’s hearts when she was pictured being kissed by her NBA star father, Allen, as a toddler back in the early ’00s. Now in her 20s, the glamorous Tiaura is actually the first born out of Allen's five kids. Allen split with Tiaura's mother, Tawanna, for good in 2013. But Tiaura and Allen seem to still have a good relationship — if their Instagram posts are anything to go by!

When Sam Alexis Woods had to deliver a speech to induct her father, champion golfer Tiger Woods, into the golf Hall of Fame, she pretty much stole the show. “I realized while writing this speech that, no matter what life throws our way, we somehow come out together and stronger. You know, train hard, fight easy,” she said — and won a legion of fans.

The daughter of Argentinian soccer star Diego Maradona began carving out an acting career for herself at an early age. Dalma was just nine when she first appeared on screen in the kids’ TV series Cebollitas. Her credits since then have included the film La Rabia and the theater production Caperucita y el lobo. She gave birth to her first child in 2018.

Elyaz Zidane Fernández could soon rival his father on the international soccer stage. The 16-year-old plays in defense for Real Madrid Juvenil B and has already captained the France under-17 team. Interestingly, Elyaz's three brothers — Enzo, Luca, and Théo — all followed their father into the beautiful game as well. Elyaz is the youngest of the bunch.

The now-retired shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. played an astonishing 2,632 games in a row during his glittering career with the Baltimore Orioles. Unfortunately, though, his son Ryan Ripkin never quite made it beyond the minor leagues. “I wish it would’ve ended differently but I realized that this would be the time to move on, and the exciting thing now is that outside of baseball there’s a whole big world so I’m excited to explore and see where the journey takes me,” Ripken said when announcing his retirement in 2022.

No one has seen a great deal of Miguel Tyson — which is something of a miracle when your father is Mike Tyson. But in 2020 Iron Mike did share a video on Instagram that he called a "family workout session." In the clip, son Miguel is seen gloved up and working the pads with his pop. People commented that Miguel looked like the real deal.

In 2022 the 21-year-old daughter of wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson became the fourth generation of her family to join the WWE. This comes after her great-grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia, her grandfather Rocky Johnson, and her dad all spent time grappling on the biggest professional wrestling stage in the world. Simone made her NXT debut in July 2022.

Robin Wright had a daughter with Sean Penn back in the day, and her name is Dylan Penn. She’s followed her parents into acting, so you might have already seen her in movies. The star was in 2016’s Elvis and Nixon for one thing. And if you did see her, you probably thought for just a second, “Wait, is that Robin Wright?”

Actress Lori Loughlin in her teens bears a very strong resemblance to her daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli at almost the same age. Alas, this lookalike pair ended up being embroiled in the same controversy. In March 2019 as Olivia Jade was starting at the University of Southern California, it transpired that her parents had bribed officials to let her in. As a result, Loughlin ended up being sentenced to two months in prison.

Meryl Streep – a woman considered one of the greatest performers of her generation – has a lookalike daughter called Mamie Gummer. Unsurprisingly, the latter played Meryl’s kid in the 2015 movie Ricki and the Flash. And Gummer has proudly said that she resembles her mother in beliefs as well as looks.

If you didn’t know, Rafferty Law is the son of Jude Law and Sadie Frost. He’s also the spitting image of his dad, which the media has very much noticed. Since becoming a teenager, he’s been a model, an actor and a musician. And most likely we will be seeing much more of him in years to come.

Demi Moore has three daughters with the equally famous Bruce Willis, but the one who looks most like her is Rumer. Just take a look, that beautiful black hair is exactly the same! The latter and her mom have had some ups and downs over the years, but these days their relationship seems stronger than ever.

Unfortunately, the story of Jayne Mansfield is a very sad one. The actress was tragically killed in a 1967 car accident at the age of just 34. But Jayne’s legacy lives on in her actress daughter Mariska Hargitay. In 2018 the latter told People magazine, “Someone once said about [remembering] my mother, ‘All you have to do is look in the mirror.’ She’s with me still.”

Morgan Freeman’s son Alfonso looks so much like him that filmmakers have taken advantage of this. Remember the mugshot of young Red in The Shawshank Redemption? That’s actually Alfonso! Not only that, but the younger Freeman has appeared in parodies of his dad’s work as well – such as the Robot Chicken version of March of the Penguins.

These pics of Kim Basinger and Ireland Baldwin at the same age serve well to highlight what a great career the latter has in front of her. Every day the young model seems to grow more into her mother’s famous good looks. And having Alec Baldwin as her father shouldn’t dent her prospects in Hollywood either.

A big scandal hit the Schwarzenegger household in 2011. It transpired that the actor had fathered a child named Joseph with his housekeeper Mildred Baena who he had kept secret. The fallout was swift, and Arnold’s wife subsequently divorced him. But the question remains… surely he couldn’t have possibly thought it would remain a secret for long, since Joseph looks just like him.

Royal genes are strong, and the royal family leans into the resemblance between kids and their parents. These pics show William and George at a close age and doing a similar thing. The former is visiting his newborn brother in hospital, and George is being taken to his baby sister’s christening. So of course, they had to be wearing almost identical red-and-white outfits.

Sailor Brinkley-Cook is the daughter of supermodel Christie Brinkley, and she’s using the family resemblance to her full advantage. In August 2020 the latter posted some summer shots on Instagram, and she wore a swimsuit very similar to one her mother posed in back in 1977. And as you might imagine, fans of both women went nuts.

Mother-daughter duo Courtney Love and Frances Bean aren’t only alike in looks, but in fashion sense as well. Yes, both of them frequently rock the gothic aesthetic. Though their relationship has been a complicated one. Since both are obviously connected via Frances’ father, the late Kurt Cobain, tragedy looms large in their lives.

No doubt you’ve heard of the model Gigi Hadid, but did you know where she got her good looks from? She inherited them from her mother: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Hadid. And these two snaps of both women in their heyday spells some very good news for Gigi’s own baby daughter.

Willow Smith is actually named after her famous father Will Smith, just as her brother Jaden got the masculine version of their mother Jada’s name. And this turned out to be a pretty good decision – since Willow grew up looking just like her father. It appears that she’s also inherited his talents in music, too.

Lily-Rose Depp was set from the start. Not only is her father the world-famous Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp, her mother is the beautiful Vanessa Paradis. If these photographs of them at the same age are anything to go by, Lily-Rose has a great career in modeling ahead of her. In fact, she’s already started.

Phylicia Rashād played Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show, and the star has an adult daughter who looks identical to how she once did. They also have a lot in common. Condola Rashād is an actress, too – you know her from the show Billions – and she has a middle name which matches her mother’s first, as well. It’s Phylea.

Did you know that Susan Sarandon’s lookalike daughter is also an actress? In fact, Eva Amurri Martino credits her mother with assisting in her own Hollywood career. In 2019 she told the Yahoo! Finance website, “I think [my mother] really unapologetically... went after what she needed to be fulfilled. So it was nice to just have that example.”

Actress Zoe Kravitz looks a lot like her mother Lisa Bonet did when she was young. But the two women actually still look very alike – despite Lisa obviously being older now. In February 2016 Hello! magazine noted, “The pair may be eligible for the most convincing mother-daughter lookalikes in Hollywood.”

These photos of Minnie Riperton and Maya Rudolph were taken in 1977 and 2002 respectively. As you can see, they look more like sisters than mother and daughter. Sadly, Minnie died of breast cancer at the age of 31, and thus she didn’t see a lot of her daughter’s success. Maya now works with breast cancer charities to raise awareness and support.

These pics show child star 16-year-old Candace Cameron Bure and her daughter Natasha at 15. There’s a pretty strong family resemblance, right? Now, the latter is starting out as an actress, too. In 2019 Natasha said of her mother, “She knows that I definitely want to be my own person. But I am the type of person who always asks her because I do want her advice...”

Stellan Skarsgård is the patriarch of a massive acting family. There’s actually eight kids in all – although not all of them followed their dad into the entertainment business. Though out of them all, the one who looks the most like a younger Stellan is the oldest son: Big Little Lies star Alexander.

Tracee Ellis Ross – the daughter of megastar Diana Ross – was cast to play a Diana-like singing sensation in the 2020 film The High Note. She told USA Today that year, “I just wanted to make sure [my character’s] hair didn’t look like we were consciously trying to make me look like my mom because we weren’t.” Yet there’s no denying Tracee looks a lot like her mother.

Many people nowadays will know Donald Sutherland as the elderly, evil President Snow from The Hunger Games. But look at a picture of him from his younger days and he looks like… well, his son, Kiefer Sutherland. The two have actually been in three movies together – including one where they played parent and child.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s father was the director and producer Bruce Paltrow. But she inherited her good looks and blonde hair from her mother: actress Blythe Danner. And these photographs of them at the same age prove that beyond reproach. Those great genes also seem to have been passed down to Gwyneth’s daughter Apple, too.

Bob Marley has passed away now, but his musical legacy lives on through his son David “Ziggy” Marley. He also happens to look just like his late father. In a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone magazine the younger man remembered that through watching his father he’d learned a number of things. These included “rehearsal, discipline, a work ethic and a standard of music.”

Naturally, Lisa Marie Presley was never going to have a normal life. She was Elvis Presley’s only child, and cameras were on her from the moment she was born. As Lisa grew older, she moved away from the bright lights of Hollywood and tried to live quietly. But just by looking at her you’d suspect whose daughter she was.

Not only do Damon Wayans Snr. and Jr. share the same name, they also happen to share a face. The latter looks just like his dad in his younger days, but even in the modern day they look incredibly alike. And the two actors are happy to play up their likeness for the sake of comedy, too.

Model Hailey Baldwin – who you might also know as Mrs. Justin Bieber – seems to have got her good looks from her mother: Kennya Baldwin. The latter is actually a graphic designer rather than a model, but she could probably have become one. Putting an old snap of her next to one of Hailey proves it.

Stella McCartney is like her father Paul in many ways. She loves music, supports animal rights, is a vegetarian and of course happens to look a lot like her father did at the same age. But Stella decided not to follow Paul into the music industry, and she became a famous fashion designer instead.

In 2019 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle presented their new baby – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor – for a photoshoot. When asked which parent he took after, Meghan said she and her husband were “still trying to figure that out.” Well, they don’t have to anymore! Archie’s now the spitting image of Harry as a baby.

Western star Clint Eastwood doesn’t look like he used to anymore. But don’t fear: his actor son Scott looks exactly like his father did when he first shot to fame. Just to really drive the resemblance home, Scott even dressed up as his dad’s famous character from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for Halloween one year.

Maggie Sajak is Pat Sajak’s daughter, and she’s gradually becoming a star. The former is a country music singer and has appeared on her dad’s show Wheel of Fortune… oh, and obviously she’s beautiful as well. Maggie inherited her looks from her mother Lesly, who once upon a time was a model for Playboy magazine.

In April 2020 Kate Hudson posted a throwback picture of herself to Instagram… yet her followers wanted to talk about her mother instead. One person commented, “Gosh you look so much like your momma in this picture! Two beautiful ladies!” And they were right, of course. Kate just looks just like a younger version of her mom Goldie Hawn.

Georgia May Jagger really hit the genetic jackpot. Her parents were both famously beautiful people: Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall. Her mother’s DNA seems to have just won over, though. And in a 2019 interview with the website Footwear News, Georgia named her mom as her style icon, saying, “She’s so unafraid to express herself.”

Mother-daughter pair Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher looked very alike, and they had very similar personalities as well. Unfortunately, their story ended in the most bittersweet way possible. Carrie died unexpectedly in 2016, and as Debbie planned her funeral she suffered a stroke which killed her. According to her surviving child Todd, the star’s last words were “I want to be with Carrie.”

Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito are one of the most beloved couples in Hollywood, and they have three children together. These kids – all adults now – are called Grace, Lucy and Jake. And the former happens to look a lot like her mother did at the same age. Surely, if there’s a Cheers reboot, she’s the one to call.

Sean Lennon looks quite extraordinarily similar to his late father. But that’s not all: the son of Yoko Ono and John Lennon wants to carry on his parents’ legacy as well. In 2015 he told The Guardian newspaper, “The only reason I’m interested in art and music at all is because of my parents. Respect for them is at the heart of everything I do. It defines me.”

There’s a whole new generation of supermodels coming soon. Kate Moss has a daughter called Lila Grace Moss Hack, and she’s clearly inherited her mother’s beauty. In fact, Lila was first scouted as a model at the age of only 14 – the exact same age her mom was when she got her first modeling job.

If you need someone to provide a flashback of a young Tom Hanks for your movie, why not contact his actual son? Colin – the child of Tom and his first wife Samantha Lewes – is an accomplished actor now. He’s been in movies including King Kong and won an Emmy nomination for his performance in the show Fargo. Oh, and he’s also played the iconic Mr. Rogers just like his father has – albeit a comedic version.

Reese Witherspoon’s kid with Ryan Phillippe doesn’t look so much like her daughter as a clone of her younger self. Ava is in her 20s now and is the spitting image of Reese when she was that age. Unsurprisingly, the former is a model at the moment, but she could also recreate her mom’s old acting performances and no one would be any the wiser.