Amanda Peet Reflects on Parents’ Initial Disapproval of Her Acting Aspirations

Amanda Peet’s journey into acting wasn’t met with open arms by her parents, who, at first, had very different ideas about what being an actor meant. “Initially, they thought acting was, I don’t know, more akin to modeling or something less respectable,” she shared on the “SmartLess” podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.

Peet elaborated that her parents were quite distanced from the entertainment world—her father worked as a corporate lawyer while her mother dedicated her career to social work and psychotherapy. At one point, she mentioned having a significant fear of stage performances, particularly for serious productions, though she felt more comfortable in auditions for less serious roles, like commercials and soap operas.

“I ended up canceling what I wanted to present to my parents,” she confessed. “I’d say I was in a Skittles commercial and they’d shrug it off as unimportant.” Gradually, her mother came around and helped her pursue acting classes when Peet turned 13. Reflecting on that shift, she described how her parents shifted their stance, saying, “I took back what I wanted to show them, and they were a bit more supportive then.”

Throughout high school, Peet participated in every play and fancied herself one of the top singers, though she joked that might not carry much weight. “But as I headed off to college, things changed. I was excited for auditions, filled with confidence, yet I didn’t land any roles. It felt like they had their favorites already, and I was on the outside looking in,” she remarked, calling herself a “self-hating actor.”

“I just didn’t want to admit this was more than just a passing interest,” she admitted, highlighting her struggle with self-identity as an actor.

Eventually, she secured an agent after taking adult acting classes from renowned teacher Uta Hagen. In what she called a pivotal moment, she recounted how, during her meeting with the agent, the conversation turned unexpected. “She took me aside to discuss my, um, facial hair situation,” Peet recalled, amused by the realization that it was something she needed to address professionally. “I had tried everything—bleaching, waxing, you name it,” she said, laughing at her past attempts to remove it.

Peet’s breakout role came in her late 20s with “The Whole Nine Yards,” leading to a successful career in films like “Something’s Gotta Give” and the Apple TV+ series “Your Friends & Neighbors.”