All About Zoey Deutch's Famous Parents, Lea Thompson and Howard Deutch

Mar. 15, 2025

Howard Deutch, Lea Thompson, and their daughter Zoey Deutch at the after party for the premiere of The Weinstein Company’s “Vampire Academy” on February 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

Zoey Deutch’s parents,Lea ThompsonandHoward Deutch, raised their daughter in a creative home.

Zoey followed in her mother’s footsteps and started acting at a young age. Lea collaborated with both of her daughters on the 2017 filmThe Year of Spectacular Men, tellingParadein September 2023 that it “was an incredible experience.”

“My kids couldn’t be cooler. Zoey is an amazing actress,” she said. “It was the first thing I ever created from nothing … I couldn’t be prouder of my children and my life.”

“She’s my role model," she said. “She’s inspired me in so many ways more than just the obvious thing of following in her footsteps as an actress. She’s a really, really remarkable woman.”

From their first meeting after crossing paths professionally to sharing acting advice with their daughter, here’s everything to know about Zoey Deutch’s parents, Lea Thompson and Howard Deutch.

They met on the set ofSome Kind of Wonderful

Lea Thompson and Howard Deutch at the Premiere of ‘Article 99’.Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty

Lea and Howardmet on the setof the 1980s teen romanceSome Kind of Wonderful. Howard approached her to star in the film, but she initially turned it down. However, after her previous project,Howard the Duck,didn’t perform well at the box office, she changed her mind.

“We met that way and we eventually married,” Howard told PEOPLE of meeting his wife while working on the movie. “But that’s another story.”

Howard added that casting Lea was “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made” as she “had a lot to do … with the tone changing of that movie.”

While Lea and Howard met on set in 1986, they didn’t kindle their romance until after the movie came out. He admitted in a 2017 interview withSalonthat though he had a “crush” on Lea, she was engaged toDennis Quaidat the time.

“Nothing happened during the movie,” Lea told Salon. “I knew he had a crush on me but it took time to play out.”

Lea and Howard got married in 1989

Howard Deutch and Lea Thompson at the Nevada Ballet Honors ‘Black & White Ball’ on April 1, 2023.Arlene Richie/Shutterstock

Arlene Richie/Shutterstock

Lea and Howard tied the knot in July 1989, and celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in 2023. She commended the special occasion onInstagram, thanking her husband “for sticking with me and being so funny.”

“You know, we’re going to go to meetings and try to get a job. That’s Hollywood,” Lea joked, before adding that the two were spacing their celebrations out over a two-week period.

They share two children

Madelyn Deutch, Howard Deutch, Lea Thompson, and Zoey Deutch attend the screening after party for “The Year Of Spectacular Men” on June 13, 2018 in New York City.Jim Spellman/WireImage

Jim Spellman/WireImage

Zoey grew up in a tight-knit family, thanks to Lea and Howard. They welcomed their first daughter Madelyn in March 1991 before Zoey was born in November 1994. Like the rest of the Deutch family, Madelyn is in the creative field, working as an actor, writer and musician.

Madelyn toldJewish Journalin May 2018 that “the two talented people who happen to be my parents” taught her how to navigate a career in the entertainment industry. Madelyn and Zoey grew up visiting movie sets, where they were exposed to the “hard side of the business.”

“They have so much goodwill in the business. They’ve treated people with respect and moved through 30 years of working in a really impressive way,” Madelyn said. “I think we developed a really strong appreciation for a good work ethic.”

“They had a lot of ups and downs. But for them, it’s not about cash and prizes. It’s about the work,” she added.

Lea directed Zoey inThe Year of Spectacular Men

Zoey Deutch and Lea Thompson attend the Los Angeles Premiere “Flower” on March 13, 2018 in Hollywood, California.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

In addition to her successful career as an actress, Lea made her directorial debut with the 2017 romantic comedyThe Year of Spectacular Men. The film was a collaborative project as Madelyn starred and penned the script alongside her mother, who helmed the project, and her sister, who acted.

“We’re such a close, tight-knit, possibly co-dependent family and we’ve always been looking to do something together but we never could figure it out,” Zoey told theJewish Journal.

“This is my first featurethat I made from the ground up,” Lea told PEOPLE in June 2017. “I inspired Maddie to write the script and, you know, independent features are so difficult to make, so we all rolled up our sleeves. There was no glamour involved at all and we made this movie, so it’s a really fun project.”

They prioritized family dinners

Howard Deutch, Lea Thompson, Madelyn Deutch, and Zoey Deutch at the premiere of MarVista Entertainment’s “The Year of Spectacular Men” on June 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

Because of their busy careers, Lea and Howard made sure to prioritize also making time for family.

“Our family dinners helped give me a better relationship with food because it made me love food and appreciate food and how it got to the table,” she said. “The greatest thing in the world is having a great meal and having a great conversation with people.”

“We cook and eat and we laugh and we fight a little and then we laugh a little,” she added.

They offered her advice in her career

Howard Deutch, Lea Thompson, and Zoey Deutch attend the world premiere of “Why Him?” on December 17, 2016.Eric Charbonneau/Getty

Eric Charbonneau/Getty

Zoey started her acting career in 2010 on Disney’sThe Suite Life on Deck. As a child actor, she had the support and advice of her mother and father, two seasoned industry professionals. Howard told Salon that Zoey and Madelyn learned to “value creativity” from their mother.

“Lea has always been the artist in this family,” he said. “Our kids got that from her.”

For Lea, Zoey’s pursuit of a career in acting felt as if she was “going into the family business,” she toldParadein January 2017. She added that “it’s kind of sickening sometimes at the dinner table because all we talk about is work,” but that she appreciates the “wonderful, collaborative relationship” she has with her daughters.

Though Zoey didn’t work with her mother until later in her career, she was able to learn from both of her parents throughout her adolescence. She told the Jewish Journal the sharpest piece of advice they’d offer her was to “work hard, be nice and keep going.”

“No one just gets lucky, in my opinion,” she added. “Hard work pays off.”

TheSomething from Tiffany’sstar toldWe Live Entertainmentin June 2018 that in order to stay afloat in the industry, she “inherited” her mother’s “survival mechanism” to forget when she has a “bad audition” or “something bad within a workspace happens.”

“I forget everything bad people say about me too,” Lea admitted. “You inherited that from me.”

While Zoey’s parents met at work, Lea advised her daughter not to cross that boundary in her professional career.

“It’s really not okay to hook up with your director — even though I did,” Lea toldEntertainment Weeklyin April 2017 of the advice she gave her kids.

Lea is Zoey’s role model

Lea Thompson and Zoey Deutch attend the special screening of “The Outfit” on March 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Winter/Getty

Growing up with Lea’s support in her professional and personal life shaped Zoey into the woman she’s become. TheSet It Upactress toldDuJourthat her mother was her “role model.”

“She’s such a kind person and it has been amazing to witness that as a child, a teenager, and now as an adult, rather than her just preaching be kind,” she said.

Zoey added that Lea has a “show not tell” attitude that has held “gravity” in her daughter’s life. However, she also admitted that she adopted her “terrible habit of cursing from someone, and it happened to be [Lea].”

source: people.com