It's hard to imagine a job two little kids would think is cooler than being the voice of a hugely popular Disney character, like Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell's kids, who get the excitement of knowing their mom voiced Anna in the Frozen movies. But having a parent with such an incredible job can provide some challenges, too. On a recent episode of his podcast Armchair Expert, Shepard said he once asked his daughters not to tell other kids about their mom's role in the hit Disney films. But Shepard said he didn't want seven-year-old Lincoln and six-year-old Delta to keep the secret because it would ruin the movie magic for other kids; it was because he didn't want his own kids to potentially make their friends jealous.
Read on to see what else Shepard had to say about raising his daughters in the spotlight. And for another famous family who has gone through the same thing, check out Jada Pinkett Smith Regrets Doing This One Thing With Her Kids.
Shepard told his daughters that it would "probably make other kids jealous."
DFree/ShutterstockThe conversation about his daughters and Frozen came up on an episode of Armchair Expert in which Shepard was interviewing another famous father of young kids, Justin Timberlake. Shepard explained that his daughters were involved in a community production of Frozen, and that was why he asked them not to talk to the other kids about their mom being in the original Disney movies.
"My little girls did this Frozen play," Shepard said. "I had to tell my daughters, I'm like, 'You cannot tell anyone in this thing that your mom is Princess Anna. And I know you're proud, and you should be able to say that, but I'm just warning you that will probably make other kids jealous and they won't know how to handle that feeling.'"
And for more from celebrity kids, see why Dwyane Wade's Kids Are Not Happy About His Revealing Birthday Photo.
He didn't want other kids to be mean to them or befriend them under false pretenses.
Shepard was concerned that other kids would either only want to be around Lincoln and Delta because of who their parents are or won't want to be around them at all because of it. "I have a great fear that kids are going to hang out with them solely because of that, or resent them because of that," Shepard said on the podcast. "To me, the two options both seem terrible. Either they're gonna have fake friends or they're gonna have people hate them for no reason."
To read more about Shepard and Bell's relationship, find out why Kristen Bell Says This Is the "Most Annoying" Thing About Dax Shepard.
Timberlake's son experiences the same thing because his dad is in Trolls.
Tinseltown / Shutterstock.comTimberlake has two sons with his wife, Jessica Biel: a five-year-old named Silas and a new baby named Phineas. And while he might be a singer, an actor, and a former member of one of the biggest boy bands of all time, when it comes to his five-year-old's friends, they're interested in one role in particular.
"We have the same thing where the kids at school with my five-year-old are like, 'Your dad is Branch from Trolls,'" Timberlake told Shepard of the hugely popular animated movies. "I guess for guys like us, the hope is that we just keep instilling in them that we've got really fun jobs, but it's not who we are, and hopefully, down the road that has more weight to it."
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Shepard previously explained how his daughters found out they had famous parents.
Kristen Bell/InstagramDuring an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2019, Shepard explained that while his daughters knew that he and Bell were both actors and had visited sets with them, it took them longer to put together that their parents are famous. He explained that one of his daughters asked why people listen to his podcast. When he said that his fame was the initial reason people tuned in, she responded, "Your famous?!" and then asked "Does mom know?" When he said, "Honey, mom's more famous than dad," she said, "Mom's famous, too?!"
Eventually, they just assumed the whole family was famous, which led to a confusing moment involving their grandma, who goes by "Gaga," and hearing the name Lady Gaga announced on TV. (You can listen the whole story here.)
And speaking of Lady Gaga, see why Garth Brooks Says Lady Gaga "Saved" Him at the Inauguration.
Shepard and Bell keep their kids private in a major way.
Kristen Bell/InstagramWhile both Bell and Shepard are open when it comes to stories about their children, the famous parents make a point to not post photos their kids' faces online. Bell had previously been involved in the fight for the No Kids Policy, which protects the children of celebrities from paparazzi. "My feeling is that I chose a career in the public eye. I chose to be quoted, I chose to have my picture taken," Bell said in a 2020 interview with Romper. "I don’t know them yet. I don’t know if they will want that. So I really don’t have the right to choose for them."
For more on famous families, here's How Mary-Kate & Ashley Stopped Elizabeth Olsen From Being a Child Star.
