Robin Williams’ actress daughter lashes out at nepotism claims

Washington: Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda has hit back at accusations that she has only been able to make it as an actress because of her famous father. The actor’s only daughter with ex-wife Marsha Garces made her feature film debut as a five year old in 1994’s ‘In Search of Dr Seuss’ and now, as a 22 year old, she is racking up her movie roles.

She has admitted to often facing criticism about using her father’s name and following him in the show business. But now she has spoken out against it in a candid blog post, insisting she works “twice as hard” to prove her talent. “While I’ve never been one to listen to naysayers, I am protective of my friends and colleagues and I’ve found myself more and more concerned by how negatively people have been treating us of late,” a website has quoted her as saying in the blog. “Success or even participation is often met with claims of favouritism, or nepotism, or perhaps the parent’s relevant connections playing a large role in their ascension. Many people don’t want to believe that lightning (or in this case the perfect mixture of luck and talent) could possibly strike twice in the same gene pool. I know many ‘children of’ who are very aware of the effort it took for their parents to succeed, as well as the chilly reception they will receive pursuing the same success until they ‘prove themselves’. It is this very knowledge that usually causes them to pound the pavement twice as hard,” she wrote. ANI