Legendary Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright David Mamet said that his children aren’t nepo babies and that they have achieved their success due to their talent. His daughter Zosia Mamet is best known for starring on “Girls” alongside news anchor Brian Williams’ daughter Allison Williams, Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke’s daughter Jemima Kirke and creator Lena Dunham, daughter of a pair of New York City artists.
Promoting his memoir “Everywhere an Oink Oink” over the weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, David conceded that his daughters — including Zosia’s sister Clara Mamet — learned from spending time on set with their father, according to the L.A. Times. He noted that he felt gratified by that.
Speaking particularly of the successful Zosia, Mamet argued that his daughters haven’t benefited from any form of privilege. “They earned it by merit,” he said.
“Nobody ever gave my kids a job because of who they were related to,” Mamet asserted, while not acknowledging other potential advantages they may have received beyond directly getting a job due to Mamet.
Zosia’s first professional acting role was in the Mamet-directed “Spartan” in 2004, which also included her less prolific sister Clara. Zosia recently appeared in “Madame Web” and “The Flight Attendant.” Clara was a regular on 2012 ABC series “The Neighbors.”
Mamet also slammed diversity initiatives as he expressed frustration with new diversity rules required of a film for it to be eligible for the Oscars. “DEI is garbage,” he said. “It’s fascist totalitarianism.”
The writer’s politics have notably drifted more conservative over the years, though he was known throughout his career for a hyper-masculine style of screenwriting. He now supports former President Donald Trump.
The famed filmmaker said he believes that the notion someone can’t win “a stupid f–king statue unless you have 7% of this, 8% of that … it’s intrusive.”
Mamet has also been against writers’ strikes over the years, including both last year and in 2007. “There’ll be less work,” he said of a future with a declining film industry and potential use of artificial intelligence, “but the scripts will be better.”
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