Cailee Spaeny's Parents Gave Her a "Black and White" Childhood — Here's What We Know About Them

Ever since Cailee Spaeny's breakout role in Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man was announced, fans have been intrigued by the young actor. With her career on an upward trajectory through movies and television, fans are tuning in to find out more about her personal life, details about the parents who raised her, and what her upbringing was like.

Here's a look at how Cailee's parents influenced her journey into acting, and what role her family has played in shaping the talent and drive that have captivated audiences worldwide.

The 21-year-old actor may be relatively new to the scene in Hollywood, but she's an old pro at handling the stresses of acting and fame.

Which may be because she was raised in a home with strong values. According to Cailee, her parents are very religious.

While speaking with Flaunt, the actor explained, "I grew up in a very religious household, where things were black and white, you know?" For those around her, there was one path: school, job, marriage, and family.

But for Cailee, "Schooling wasn’t the foremost thing in my mind. It was always like: OK, I don’t fit in this box of, ‘You have to be good in school.’ I’m not. I’m failing every class and I’m in sixth grade!”

While she hasn't publicly discussed her parents much beyond that, it's clear that they instilled in her the drive to work hard and chase her dreams, even if those dreams don't exactly align with what they thought she'd grow up to do.

When she was in middle school, Cailee already knew that she was bound for something different. She told the outlet, "I knew at such a young age that I was going to commit my life to something else. I don’t know where that came from. It felt like there was some higher power or being that touched me and said, 'This is what you’re going to do.' That sounds so corny, but I don’t know how else to explain it.”

She joked that pushing around the boys gave her a sense of empowerment, sharing, "There was something about bossing boys around from 11 to 15 — telling them what songs I want to do. Boys did not faze me at all.”

But learning to act did faze her, at least a little. She mused, "I feel like I’m always running to catch up. I never took an acting class growing up, so being on set is like taking an acting class. Except it’s filmed and immortalized forever on screen and you can’t take it away.”

But through it all, Cailee says that she wants to maintain an identity separate from that of a famous actor. The young star explained, "I don’t want to identify myself as just, like, ‘I’m an actor.’ When people think of me, I hope that they think of something bigger than that.”

Perhaps the fact that she comes from such a non-Hollywood background will help with that effort in the long run.