About one third of Netflix’s Roommates movie cast is children of famous Hollywood actors. If ever there was a “nepo baby movie,” it’d be this!
Sadie Sandler, the eldest daughter of Adam Sandler, leads the new Happy Madison-produced coming-of-age comedy as a lonely college freshman named Devon, desperate to find a BFF. She thinks she’s found what she’s looking for in her new roommate Celeste (played by Chloe East, a former child actor, not a nepo baby). But what starts off as a beautiful friendship soon devolves into psychological warfare.
Adam Sandler has been casting his daughters, Sadie and Sunny Sandler, in his movies since 2010’s Grown Ups, but recently the girls have graduated from cameos and bit roles to leading ladies. Sunny proved herself to be charming and likable in the sweet coming-of-age comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah in 2023, and now her big sister is proving herself to be funny and relatable in this R-rated college comedy, Roommates, which began streaming on Netflix today.
Directed by Chandler Levack, with a screenplay co-written by Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan, Roommates is a fun and quirky romp with something to say about the intense, volatile, and passive aggressive nature of young adult female friendships. To be fair, not every young actor in the cast is a nepo baby, including Storm Reid, Ivy Wolk, Billy Byrk, Aidan Langford, and an unexpected cameo from Megan Thee Stallion.
But quite a few of the supporting cast members are, indeed, children of famous folks, including the daughters of Eddie Murphy, Martin Scorsese, Laura Dern, and Chris Rock.
Near the end of the film, Roommates offers a wink to its status as a “nepo baby movie” with one perfect joke. Devon gets her revenge on her terrible roommate, Celeste, by revealing to the student body that Celeste didn’t grow up poor, as she claimed. In fact, she’s the daughter of the CEO of Staples. Upon hearing this one of the students—played by SNL writer and avowed nepo baby Martin Herlihy—stands up, outraged, and shouts, “You’re telling me she’s a f–king nepo baby?”
In that spirit, let’s go over who in the Roommates movie cast is “f–cking nepo baby.”
Adam Sandler’s daughter, Sadie Sandler, as Devon
Photo: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Again, Adam Sandler has put his daughters, Sadie and Sunny Sandler, in over 20 of his movies by this point. But though she had a supporting role in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, this is the older Sandler daughter first time as the lead. Honestly, she crushed it! I really felt for poor Devon. And though he produced the movie via his Happy Madison productions company, Adam Sandler doesn’t actually appear in the film. So, Sadie was flying solo… alongside all her fellow nepo babies, that is.
Laura Dern’s daughter, Jaya Harper, as Olivia
Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix
Oscar-winner Laura Dern—who is herself a nepo baby, as the daughter of Bruce Dern—has two children with her ex, Grammy-winning musician Ben Harper. One of those children, 21-year-old Jaya Harper, appears in Roommates as a fellow college freshman named Olivia who befriends Devon and Celeste. For her showcase, Olivia demonstrates knocking down a controversial statue on campus. (It turns out the statue is not actually a Confederate soldier—he’s just riding a horse.)
Eddie Murphy’s daughter, Bella Murphy, as Emma
Photo: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Bella Murphy—one of ten children belonging to superstar comedian Eddie Murphy—appears in Roommates as Olivia’s roommate, Emma. Olivia (aka Laura Dern’s daughter Jaya Harper) and Emma become a foursome with Devon and Celeste, despite the fact that they have very uncool twinkle lights and Polaroids hanging in their dorm room.
Tim Herlihy’s son, Martin Herlihy, as Christian
Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix
You know Martin Herlihy—who plays a fellow student and Frisbee golf enthusiast named Christian—as one third of Please Don’t Destroy, a sketch comedy group who are currently working as writers (and, in Ben Marshall’s case, a cast member) on Saturday Night Live. You might not know Herlihy’s father, Tim Herlihy, as a household name, but there’s no doubting his status as a nepo baby—Tim Herlihy is a former SNL writer-producer himself, and a longtime comedy partner of Adam Sandler, aka the guy who produced this movie.
Martin Scorsese’s daughter, Francesca Scorsese, as Ellie
Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix
Perhaps you recognized Francesca Scorsese—daughter of legendary, Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese—from her hilarious TikTok videos she likes to make with dear old dad. In Roommates, she plays Ellie, the leader of the college freshman orientation, which involves high ropes courses, scavenger hunts, and more.
Chris Rock’s daughter, Zahra Rock, as Lola
Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix
The youngest daughter of stand-up comedian Chris Rock, Zahra Savannah Rock, briefly appears in Roommates as another college freshman named Lola. Notably, she gets kicked in the “titty” by Devon on the high ropes course during orientation. It’s extra cute that her name is Lola in the film, as that’s the name of Zahra’s older sister, Lola Simone Rock.