A Family Affair

The romantic comedy The Year of Spectacular Men is a family affair on screen and off. Sisters Madelyn and Zoey Deutch play the Klein sisters; mom Lea Thompson plays their mother and directed the movie from Madelyn’s script; and Zoey and dad Howard Deutch are among its producers. The story follows a floundering recent college grad (Madelyn) and her life, romantic entanglements and relationships with her mom and sister.

As in real life, the Klein sisters have a Jewish father and a mother who is not Jewish. Zoey (Before I Fall, Why Him) and Maddie (Outcast) were raised Jewish and identify as such. Both attended Hebrew school, became bat mitzvahs, celebrate the High Holidays and have been to Israel. “I very much feel pride in my Jewish heritage and culture,” Zoey says.

Madelyn, who held a seder for friends of different religions on Passover (her favorite holiday) this year, explains that although her mother grew up Christian, “I think she felt very at home with [Judaism] when she met my dad, and the Jewish community. The whole idea that you’re commanded to argue with God, I think blew my mom’s mind. She just loved that. Artists are so much about challenging the norm.”

Spectacular Men opens June 15, and Zoey also has a Netflix movie premiering the same day, the romantic comedy Set it Up. She and Glen Powell play overworked assistants who scheme to get their demanding bosses (Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs) out of their hair by getting them to fall in love.

You’re It

Opening June 15, the comedy Tag follows five friends who’ve been playing an aggressive version of the playground game since first grade, and they’re not about to let the wedding of the only undefeated player (Jeremy Renner) spoil the fun. Isla Fisher plans the very competitive Anna, who is determined that her husband Hoagie (Ed Helms) will not be “it” and does whatever it takes to prevent it. Fisher, who was born to Scottish Christian parents in Oman and raised in Australia, converted to Judaism before she married Jewish actor Sacha Baron Cohen, the father of their three children. She next stars in the comedy The Beach Bum with Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron.

Rashida Jones plays Cheryl, the childhood crush object of two of the tag players (Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson). Jones was raised Jewish by her Jewish mother, actress Peggy Lipton, and music producer Quincy Jones, who is not Jewish. Jones recently co-directed Quincy, a documentary about her father that will premiere on Netflix in the fall.

More Must-See June TV & Film

Yellowstone is a modern day western series starring Kevin Costner as the owner of the largest ranch in the U.S. who battles shady politicians and land-grabbing developers to keep it. Playing his son is Dave Annable (Heartbeat, Brothers & Sisters). Annable is Jewish on his mother’s side and is married to Supergirl’s Odette Annable, who is not Jewish, and with whom he has a 2-year-old daughter, Charlie. Yellowstone premieres June 20 on Paramount Network.

Rachel Bilson returns in the ABC summer series Take Two as a once-hot TV cop show star who hopes that shadowing a private eye (Eddie Cibrian) will help her get the comeback role she craves. Bilson, who is Italian Catholic on her mother’s side and Jewish on her father’s, most recently starred in Hart of Dixie and recurred on Nashville. She has a 3-year-old daughter, Briar Rose, with actor Hayden Christensen whom she split from last fall. Take Two premieres June 21.

In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, opening June 22, Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt re-team to save the dinosaurs of Isla Nubar from the threat of an erupting volcano. Howard, the daughter of director Ron Howard, who was raised Christian, has been married since 2006 to Jewish actor Seth Gabel (Fringe, Salem), with whom she has two children. Also appearing is Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role as chaos theorist Ian Malcolm after a 21-year Jurassic hiatus. Goldblum, who is Jewish, is married to Canadian Olympic gymnast Emilie Livingston, who is not Jewish. They have two sons, River Joe, 1, and Charlie Ocean, who turns 3 next month. Goldblum is currently on screen in Hotel Artemis and can be heard as Duke in the animated movie Isle of Dogs.