Iris Apatow’s career is just taking off. The 23-year-old daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann is set to join season three of Hulu’s Tell Me Lies, which premiers on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Iris will play Amanda, a college freshman who immediately finds herself at the center of the drama when Bree (played by Catherine Missal) suspects she is the latest target of a predatory professor.
On screen, her character is facing fallout, but off screen, her love life is steady. Iris has a history of dating men from well-known families. After breaking up with Ryder Robinson, whose parents are Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson, in 2023, Iris briefly dated actor and producer Henry Haber.
Her newest beau has his own set of famous parents. Iris started dating Sam Nivola, 22, in early 2024. Two years later, the couple is going strong, with Sam appearing in several of Iris’ posts to social media. The pair has become a rising Hollywood power couple, balancing high profile roles with a shared understanding of life in the spotlight.
So who is Sam Nivola and who are his famous parents? Here’s everything HELLO! knows about the young actor.
© Getty ImagesSam’s parents are Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola
Sam was born on September 26, 2003 to actors Emily Mortimer, 54, and Alessandro Nivola, 53. Emily is best known for playing Mackenzie McHale in The Newsroom, the Paddington films, and most recently, in Jay Kelly. Alessandro appeared in Face/Off, Jurassic Park III, and last year’s Best Picture at the Academy Awards, The Brutalist.
Emily and Alessandro raised Sam and his younger sister, May, in Brooklyn, New York.
© Getty ImagesHis parents didn’t want him to be an actor
Last June, Sam addressed his “nepo baby” status. In a conversation with Cooper Koch for Variety‘s Actors on Actors, he said: “My whole thing was that my parents really didn’t want me to be an actor, which I totally get — I don’t know if I’d want my kid to be an actor. It’s a really mentally tough career to be in.”
Despite their reservations, Sam became an actor. He defied his parents’ wishes when he dropped out of Columbia University to pursue acting full-time – a move his father admitted to People he desperately “tried to talk him out of it.”
© InstagramSam’s already had a successful career
When Sam was just ten years old, he starred alongside his mom in Doll & Em. Eight years later, he and May played siblings in an episode of BBC One’s The Pursuit of Love, in which Emily adapted from a novel with the same name.
But his career really exploded after the COVID-19 pandemic. Sam starred in White Noise and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro before landing a role in Netflix’s The Perfect Couple alongside Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber.
Of course, his breakout role was as Lochlan Ratliff in season three of The White Lotus. Sam’s character is memorable for many reasons, most notably for his odd relationship with his brother played by Patrick Schwarzenegger.
© Getty ImagesIris was a major support to Sam while filming The White Lotus
The third season of the HBO dramedy, which was set in Thailand, took seven months to film. While Sam was on set, Iris visited him for a few months. They both shared moments of their time together on Instagram, exploring natural pools and enjoying the local cuisine.
At the premiere for The White Lotus season three, Sam told People: “I brought my girlfriend for a few months, which was amazing. It was so great to have a taste of home because it was 10,000 miles away from home.”
© InstagramBoth Iris and Sam acknowledge they are nepo babies
The couple are not shy about their acknowledgement of their famous families. Sam told British Vogue in January 2025: “My parents aren’t, like, total celebrities. They don’t get recognized in the street.”
He continued, joking that Iris and his friends are a “secret cabal of nepo kids who hang out in black robes.”
