Celebrity moms seem to get most of the coverage when it comes to tabloids. They’re usually snapped running around with their kids, loading groceries into their SUVs or trying to hide pregnant bellies while eager paparazzi try to snap a quick pic. Celebrity dads, on the other hand, rarely get so much coverage. Most of the time, it seems to be because they’re hands-off (or at least not photographed as often). Perhaps their wives, fiancés or girlfriends aren’t famous, and so they're the ones doing the majority of the child-rearing, simply because their schedules allow for it. Maybe the celebrity dads in question just don’t take much of an interest in their children (ahem, Tom Cruise), or perhaps they’d rather shift the responsibility to hired nannies.
Whatever the case, it’s refreshing to see celebrity dads who do more than the bare minimum when it comes to taking care of the kiddos – these guys know that parenting is a two-way street and that they should be pulling their weight! From attending play dates and sports games to getting up for morning feedings and diaper changes, these dads take on the responsibility, work and genuine joy that comes with raising kids.
These are the celebrity dads who do more than push a stroller or heat a bottle – they're on top of their parenting game.
20 Jason Sudeikis: Otis & Daisy
As far as low-key, hands-on parenting goes, Jason Sudeikis has it nailed. The proud papa of two children (son Otis and daughter Daisy) he shares with actress Olivia Wilde, Sudeikis really just enjoys spending time with his children.
In an interview with People, Sudeikis described how he felt about his son calling him “Dad.” He said, as Cafe Mom reports,
“[My son] calls me ‘Dada.’ I think that’s hilarious, mind-blowingly hilarious. …I never thought that was going to happen and that it would be so intoxicating when it did.”
While the actor doesn’t claim to be a parenting expert, he does have one kernel of wisdom he thinks is the key to raising kids, as Us reports: “I think staying around is the trick. Being present is a good quality.”
19 Justin Timberlake: Silas
Justin Timberlake might be a major star, but he’s stated that he’s never been happier than when he became a father to his three-year-old son, Silas.
Speaking to People, Timberlake gushed, “I’ve never slept less and dealt with more poop, and been so excited about it!” Wife Jessica Biel echoed his statements and the fact that her husband loves his new dad role, saying, “He is doing it all. He is in there; he’s in there deep.”
The privacy of their little one is also important to the proud parents, who have limited photos of Silas since the child’s birth.
18 Ben Affleck: Violet, Seraphina & Samuel
Juggling three children and a thriving film career as both an actor and a director can’t be an easy feat, and when you factor in that Ben Affleck is co-parenting his kids with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, you have a dad who doesn’t wanna miss a thing!
Affleck is regularly spotted with his kids, taking them to the park or dropping them off at school, sitting in the audience at their soccer games and even reuniting with his ex to bring the kids to church on Easter! Spending time with their kids in a harmonious fashion is so important to the divorced couple that they have even attended co-parenting therapy together to ensure their kids get the best upbringing.
17 John Krasinski: Hazel & Violet
Is there anything quite as attractive as watching a guy like John Krasinski push a stroller? Not only is this celeb dad totally in love with his wife Emily Blunt, but he’s proven to be a hands-on dad, even scheduling his projects around Blunt’s to ensure at least one parent is always at home.
Blunt even sang his praises in an interview with The Telegraph. As Parents reports, she called him “the diaper king!” She added, “We’re both hands-on all the time.”
Krasinski, for his part, thinks it’s what he’s supposed to do! Speaking at Comic Con, the actor said, “My job is just being my wife’s personal assistant. I change diapers, get bottles, get breast pumps,” as Huffington Post reports.
16 Chris Martin: Apple & Moses
Okay, so with his kids now aged 14 and 12, Chris Martin isn't changing diapers or heating bottles anymore, but that doesn’t make him any less of a hands-on parent. (Although, back when the kids were still in their Pampers, the Coldplay singer was refreshingly modern in his take, as Parents reports. He said,
“Men should always change diapers. It’s a very rewarding experience. It’s mentally cleansing. It’s like washing dishes, but imagine if the dishes were your kids and you really loved the dishes.”
Nowadays, despite “consciously uncoupling” from ex Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin is still dedicated to providing Apple and Moses with a stable household without any animosity or iciness towards his ex.
15 Jared Padalecki: Thomas, Shepherd & Odette
As the father of three children, two boys and a girl, Supernatural star Jared Padalecki is absolutely in love with being a father, regularly documenting his family’s adventures on IG, which include bike rides, ice skating, tree climbing and trips to the zoo.
Back in 2017, for the website he runs with his wife, Genevieve, Padalecki wrote a letter to his children, praising them and thanking them. “Thank you for letting me feel what it is like to love something more than yourself,” he writes. “You’ve humbled me. You’ve helped me rediscover the joy of discovery. You’ve turned my world upside down.”
Excuse us, we have something in our eye.
14 Matt Damon: Alexia, Isabella, Gia & Stella
Matt Damon has a lot of women in his life. In fact, when he married bartender Luciana Barroso, she came with a daughter in tow! In addition to stepdaughter Alexia, now 20, Damon and Barroso share three other daughters together: Isabella, Gia and Stella.
When it comes to fatherhood, the actor can’t help but get a little gooey. In an interview with Parade, he said, “The only way I can describe [fatherhood] – it sounds stupid, but at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you know how his heart grows, like, five times its size? Everything is full; it’s just full all the time.”
13 Ryan Reynolds: James & Inez
A quick scroll through his Twitter feed will let you know that Ryan Reynolds has a pretty fun time being a dad, even when he’s teasing his kids for the whole world to see. (To be fair, plenty of the tweets are made up, according to wife Blake Lively.)
Not only is Ryan totally relatable, but he completely adores his daughters, James and Inez, and regularly does what he can to keep them out of the media. The couple even refused to announce their names until months after both had been born!
Speaking to Today, Reynolds admitted that he’s the one who does the difficult chores in the household, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
12 Channing Tatum: Everly
Channing Tatum knows where he’s needed when it comes to raising a baby. As Parents reports, the actor said, “I’m solid at changing a diaper now. If a guy isn’t good at changing a diaper, I don’t know what he’s there for, really, 'cause they’re not there for the first seven months for any other reason than to do that because the mom is the end-all, be-all of everything.” Preach!
That eagerness to be a dad hasn’t waned over the years, and IG photos regularly show the macho star getting goofy with his little girl, like when he dressed up as a unicorn complete with a rainbow-striped horn!
11 George Clooney: Ella & Alexander
George Clooney didn’t seem like he was going to be anyone’s father but then he met, fell in love with and married Amal Alamuddin. He's a dad to their twins, Ella and Alexander. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a photo of them, since the star has threatened legal action against any pap that tries to snap a pic!
In addition to being a productive papa, Clooney has also kept it real, one time calling out baby Halloween costumes for being “cruel” and handing out noise-cancelling headphones to everyone on the same plane as his wife and children, as a preemptive apology, as Fatherly reports.
10 David Beckham: Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz & Harper
David Beckham, along with wife Victoria, have some of the most photogenic kids in the celebrity world, but the world-renowned soccer star isn’t relying on their good looks to get them through life: he knows the importance of being a hands-on dad.
In addition to building a 4000-piece LEGO Disney Castle for his kids and giving them cute shows of affection, Beckham has also been quoted by Cosmopolitan as saying,
“My greatest achievement is my family. What matters is being a good father and a good husband – just being connected as much as possible. I was selfish before, everyone is. But when you have kids they become your main priority.”
9 Neil Patrick Harris: Gideon & Harper
With two proud papas in the household, you can bet Father’s Day is a big deal – but we’d argue Halloween is a bigger event for Neil Patrick Harris’s adorable fam! With twins Gideon and Harper, the family has a reputation for pulling out elaborate Halloween ensembles.
Harris has been open about being a hands-on dad, along with partner, David Burtka. They fill their free time with activities, play dates and trips to places like the museum. Despite having worked as a child since his Doogie Howser days, the actor knows where his priorities lie, telling Parents, “Jobs come and go and your kids and your family are only that age once. I want to be around.”
8 Ashton Kutcher: Wyatt & Dimitri
Ashton Kutcher is about more than taking his children on the occasional trip to the park. In addition to asking the paparazzi to stop taking photos of his kids, Wyatt and Dimitri, the actor and activist teamed up with Change.org to start a petition asking Target and Costco to “provide universally accessible changing tables in their stores,” because dads have to change diapers, too!
As for fatherhood, Kutcher couldn’t be happier, exclaiming to E! News, “It’s the greatest thing on earth. As soon as this child was born, I wanted to call my parents and just apologize because I never knew how much they loved me.”
7 Dax Shepard: Lincoln & Delta
With wife Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard began the #NoKidsPolicy, which seeks to maintain the privacy of youngsters of the rich and the famous from the prying eyes of the media. And that’s kind of how the couple has approached parenting from day one: as a team – and Shepard is more than willing to pull his weight. He even took a month off work for paternity leave!
Back in 2013 in an interview with NBC following the birth of his first daughter, Lincoln, Shepard said changing diapers was no big deal. As Parents reports, he added, “I wasn’t too afraid of [fatherhood], and it’s been nothing but wonderful.”
6 Chris Pratt: Jack
Chris Pratt loves being a father. Along with son, Jack, whom he shares with ex Anna Faris, the actor is looking forward to having a lot more children with fiancé Kristen Schwarzenegger.
While his schedule has seen him filming tons of movies, the Marvel star still finds time to take his six-year-old fishing. In a recent interview with Live With Kelly and Ryan, Pratt described a parenting approach that’s all about balance. Fatherly reports him saying,
“I’m probably the strict parent, but also pretty loving and affectionate. I think you’ve got to get respect, do what you say you’re going to do…But at the same time, you give them lots of hugs and kisses.”
5 Jimmy Kimmel: Katherine, Kevin, Jane & William
Okay, so maybe Jimmy Kimmel has that quasi-cruel prank he pulls every year where he gets parents to send in videos of themselves telling their kids they ate all their Halloween candy, but hear us out, because the guy is basically a rockstar dad.
In addition to his two older children from a previous relationship, Kimmel has little ones Jane and William (Billy), but it was the latter who got the most press. Billy was born with a congenital heart disease that had him endure multiple surgeries, something Kimmel talked about on his talkshow, using it as a a platform to advocate for keeping the Affordable Care Act.
4 John Legend: Luna & Miles
If you watched the Super Bowl (or just the commercials), then you probably spotted singer John Legend crooning to little Luna as he changed her diaper! With two kids in the household, Legend and wife Chrissy Teigen split the parenting in a tag-team setup, with Legend playing with Luna while Teigen breastfeeds Miles.
Being a big sister can be a difficult role to take on, but Legend explained to Parents, “I think we did a pretty decent job preparing [Luna] for a new baby by making her feel like she is still valued and important in our lives and giving her a sense of the joy and responsibility of being a big sister.”
3 Chris Hemsworth: Tristan, Sasha & India
Take one look at Chris Hemsworth carrying a kid in each arm and tell us that you’re not utterly convinced that he’s an amazing dad.
His IG account is filled with images of the proud dad playing around with his kids, letting them use him as a pillow on a long flight, baking a cake and giving them big Thor-like cuddles!
In an interview with GQ Australia the actor admitted that, while he could have put more effort into certain acting roles, he’s happy with his choices because he’d rather spend more time with his family.
2 LeBron James: LeBron Jr., Bryce & Zhuri
Even if you’re not a big basketball fan, you have to admit that LeBron James looks like a really, really good dad. Despite being one of the most recognised names in the game, James makes a huge effort to support his children, like when he watched then-12-year-old LeBron Jr. during his game in Vegas. Another time, his daughter, who was three at the time, asked for candy in the middle of a game, and James went ahead and gave it to her!
Growing up without a father really had an impact on James, and it was thanks to his mom who gave him so much love that James learned how to be an amazing parent. As Cleveland reports him saying,
“My mom, she kept it so real. She was like my mother and my father at the same time. When I was growing up at times, on Father's Day, I would write my mother a card, wishing her Happy Father's Day. She was all I had.”
1 The Rock: Simone, Jasmine & Tiana
One look through Dwayne Johnson’s IG account and you’ll see that the love for his three daughters – and his role as a father – is positively overflowing. In light of his hectic schedule, the actor does whatever he can to make time for his kids and take them along for the ride.
The adorable messages are too numerous to mention, but one especially worth mentioning followed the birth of his third daughter, Tiana, in which he acknowledged his busy schedule in his role as a dad. As Health reports, he said,
“Your crazy dad has many responsibilities and wears many hats in this big ol’ world, but being your dad will always be the one I’m most proud to wear.”
Sorry, could you pass the tissues?
Sources: Cafe Mom, Us Weekly, Huffington Post, Today, Cosmopolitan, Parents, E! Online, Fatherly, GQ, Health, Cleveland
