All about ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ star and nepo baby Ella Beatty

Season 4 of Ryan Murphy’s crime anthology show, “Monster,” stars Ella Beatty – and while she’s a new face to most audiences, she hails from Hollywood royalty. 

Ella, 26, is the daughter of Warren Beatty, 89, and Annette Bening, 68, and through Warren’s side of the family, Shirley MacLaine, 92, is her aunt. 

Ella told E! News in September that her parent’s main advice for the role was “listening.” 

She noted that Warren and Bening gave her advice to,

“Get interested rather than be interesting,” they told her, adding, “You never want to be the smartest person in the room.”

Ella Beatty (pictured in “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story”) is the daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Ella (pictured with Warren and Bening in 2016) said her parents gave her advice to “listen.” Getty Images for Audi

She praised her parents as “such incredible artists” who are “also so different from one another.”

Warren and Bening tied the knot in 1992 after meeting on the set of the 1991 film “Bugsy.” They share four children: Stephen, 34, Ben, 32, Isabel, 29, and Ella.

During a May 2024 interview with The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal, Ella said that she and her siblings had recently watched “Bugsy.”

Bening and Beatty (pictured in 2016) have been married since 1992 and share four kids. Getty Images for GQ
Warren (pictured in 2004 with Annette and their children) gets “devastated” when Ella hasn’t seen his movies, she said. WireImage

“It’s so special to see your parents falling in love. Oh my gosh, how romantic!” she said.

She noted that Warren was “devastated” every time she told him she hadn’t seen one of his movies. 

“I definitely have more to go,” she said. “I’m so inspired by [my parents], every time I see something they’ve done, I hope I can carry the torch on.”

The actress plays the titular role in “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.”

“Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” is the fourth season of Ryan Murphy’s crime anthology show. Netflix
Lizzie Borden was accused of axe murdering her father and stepmother in 1892. COURTESY OF NETFLIX

The show follows the famed 1892 case in which Borden was accused of axe murdering her father, played by Charlie Hunnam and stepmother, played by Rebecca Hall. 

Each season of the Emmy winning series has dramatized a different true crime case, including serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (played by Evan Peters), the Menendez brothers (played by Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez), and Ed Gein (played by Hunnam). 

During a 2024 appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Bening called Ella “very disciplined.” 

The “American Beauty” actress also gushed that Ella is “hardworking” and “knows what she’s doing.” 

Each season of “Monster” (pictured with Ella in “Lizzie Borden”) dramatizes a different criminal or killer’s story. COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Ella (pictured with Bening in 2024) is “hardworking,” her mom said. Bruce Glikas/WireImage

Ella told E! News that her mother is “my favorite actress in the world and my hero and my best friend,” and added that they “dream” of working together one day.

Prior to “Monster,” Ella made her TV debut in another Ryan Murphy series, “Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans,” and her big screen debut in the 2025 movie “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” which earned star Rose Byrne an Oscar nomination. 

She’s also been on Broadway, appearing in 2024’s “Appropriate” as a replacement for Elle Fanning, alongside fellow Murphy alum, Sarah Paulson. 

Ella said she thought it was “romantic” to watch Bening and Beatty fall in love, in “Bugsy.” Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
Ella (pictured with Bob Gazzale and her parents in 2016) made her movie debut in 2025. Penske Media via Getty Images

Ella joins a long line of nepo babies to star in Murphy’s shows.

Emma Roberts (the niece of Julia Roberts) and Billie Lourd (the daughter of Carrie Fisher)  are regulars in the “American Horror Story” franchise, and his most recent show, “The Shards,” starred Kaia Gerber (the daughter of Cindy Crawford) and Homer Gere (the son of Richard Gere). 

“Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” is now streaming on Netflix.

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