Mark Ruffalo may be keen on his son Keen Ruffalo joining the family business, but he warned his son that it isn’t always easy in the spotlight.

Following the Sterling Point star’s breakout role in the Prime Video series, he revealed how the Avengers star reacted to him deciding to become an actor after previously not being interested.

“He was definitely supportive, but he’s like, ‘You sure you wanna do this?’” Keen recalled on Today in an interview that aired on Aug. 7.  “He’s like, ‘[There’s] definitely less criticism in other [careers].’”

While the 25-year-old—the oldest of Mark and wife Sunrise Coigney’s three kids—made a few small appearances in his dad’s projects growing up, including 2013’s Begin Again and 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, he didn’t plan on pursuing acting like his parents. But everything changed once the pandemic hit.

“It got to that point where everyone’s really burning out [from] being inside,” Keen told Today’s Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer. “I started my freshman year of college, just before Covid happened, and I was going for fashion design originally. I dropped out not long after we ended up separating for Covid.”

After experiencing “Covid depression,” the Nimrods star realized he “needed a change.”

“I was lost at the time,” he admitted. “I saw that acting made my dad so happy, and I was like, ‘Listen, I need to try something new.’”

And though Keen is making waves for his first major role as Connor Jacobson, the laid-back twin brother to Ella Rubin’s Annie in Sterling Point—and will next be seen in the road comedy Nimrods—his journey to his debut came with many challenges.

“I wasn’t auditioning at the start, obviously. My dad didn’t want to hand me or my siblings anything because it’s just not how he was raised,” he shared in an interview with Cultured published Aug. 4. “So I went to a couple of the major schools and studied different acting techniques. I’m a huge nerd when it comes to acting technique. That’s my bread and butter. I could go on for hours about it.”

As for a notable turning point? When Mark—also dad to Bella, 21, and Odette, 18, with Sunrise—saw his son in action.

“[He] came and saw one of my plays one day, and he’s like, ‘All right, I think you’re ready to do this,’ after I’d studied for a year or two,’” Keen recalled. “Then, it took me another three years of still taking classes and auditions to finally land Nimrods and Sterling Point. I’d probably done at that point upwards of 100 auditions.”

For a closer look at more stars and their mini-me kids, keep reading…

Full House alum Jodie Sweetin's, uh, full house includes her lookalike eldest daughter Zoie (left) and her two years younger little sis Beatrix.

A total touchdown moment. NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas and his son Tomas celebrated the Miami Hurricanes' January 2026 win in an adorable selfie. 

Like mother like daughter. After becoming a household name on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, former supermodel Yolanda Hadid's daughter Gigi Hadid broke into the fashion industry as a teen and has been rocking runways ever since.

Clint Eastwood's fifth child, son Scott Eastwood, has followed in his movie star footsteps by starring in films like Suicide Squad, Snowden, The Fate of the Furious and Pacific Rim.

It's his life, but Jake Bongiovi bears a striking resemblance to his dad, Bon Jovi lead singer Jon Bon Jovi (with wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, and their youngest son Romeo Bongiovi at the Jefferson Awards Foundation's 2017 DC National Ceremony). Fortunately, he gives love a good name, married to Millie Bobby Brown since 2024. 

Pieces of Katie: As a tween, actress' Katie Holmes' daughter Suri Cruise (at a 2016 performance of Finding Neverland in NYC) was her undeniable twin. 

The jury is not out. Jack Marsden's resemblance to dad James Marsden was uncanny at the 2017 SAG Awards.

Marlowe—Alfie star Sienna Miller’s daughter with ex Tom Sturridge—joined her mom for a rare public outing in London in April 2025.

Double take! Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Kim Zolciak's daughter Brielle Bierman could pass for her younger sis. 

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo had the cutest plus-one in son Christiano Jr. at the London premiere of Ronaldo in 2015.

Sailor Brinkley-Cook has followed mom Christie Brinkley right down the runway. 

Also taking a walk in her mom's proverbial stilettos: Kate Moss' daughter Lila Moss. 

Whoever said Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava Phillippe doesn't look like her twin is as seriously disturbed as whoever said orange was the new pink. 

Like mother, like daughter. Lisa Bonet and Zoë Kravitz attended the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2015.

With their matching jumpsuits, sleek hair and glasses, Demi Moore and eldest daughter Rumer Willis looked like carbon copies. "That moment when you realize you actually are becoming your mother #twinning #imnotmad," Willis joked on Instagram in 2015.

Pictured here in 2010, pop icon Madonna's daughter Lourdes Leon is a fashionista just like her mama!

You'll get a kick out of how much soccer star David Beckham and his oldest son Brooklyn Beckham look alike.

Kelly Ripa celebrated daughter Lola Consuelos' 14th birthday with this adorable 2015 pic. 

Once upon a time in Hollywood...Kill Bill actress Uma Thurman twinned with her daughter Maya Hawke on the red carpet.

Years before Blue Ivy Carter made her way up the Met Gala steps alongside mom Beyoncé, she suited up alongside her lookalike dad Jay Z at the 2017 Grammys.

Days of Our Lives star Alison Sweeney and her daughter Megan got in the holiday spirit at 2015's Disney On Ice Presents Frozen at the Staples Center. 

In matching bobs, Lily-Rose Depp and mom Vanessa Paradis appeared cut from the same cloth at the 2015 Chanel fall-winter Haute Couture show in Paris.

Caught red-handed: Oscar winner Julianne Moore twinning with then-tween Liv at a 2013 New York Fashion Week event.

The genetics are strong between Robin Wright and daughter Dylan Penn (in 2022), but the pull toward all-black garb is even stronger. 

Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, there's another photo proving how closely Olivia Jade resembles her mom, Fuller House star Lori Loughlin.

Lincoln star Daniel Day-Lewis' son Gabriel-Kane, whose mother is French actress Isabelle Adjani, made his big runway debut at 2015 Paris Fashion Week

The truth is, in fact, out there. Gillian Anderson stunned with daughter Piper on a 2015 red carpet. 

"It used to be that I didn’t see it at all," Kaia Gerber acknowledged of her resemblance to mom Cindy Crawford , "but now I will look at a picture and have to take a moment before realizing which one of us it is." 

Though Colin Hanks' 2008 photo alongside dad Tom Hanks had us doing a double-take, it's actually the actor's youngest son Truman Hanks who played a young version of the Oscar winner in 2022's A Man Called Otto. 

Mammia Mia! You can certainly see the family resemblance between Meryl Streep and daughters Mamie, Grace and Louisa.