Lewis Pullman got his love of the arts from his parents, Bill Pullman and Tamara Hurwitz.
Bill and Tamara have known each other for more than 40 years — after meeting in college, they got married in 1987. The couple have since welcomed three children: daughter Maesa and sons Jack and Lewis.
The Pullmans are “a real creative family,” Lewis told PEOPLE in May 2023. His mother is a modern dancer, while his father is an actor. Bill made his film debut back in the mid-1980s and is best known for roles in Independence Day and Spaceballs.
Lewis’ older siblings are also “all performers in some realm,” Lewis said. Maesa is a musician and Jack is a puppet and mask designer.
Here’s everything to know about Lewis Pullman’s parents, Bill Pullman and Tamara Hurwitz.
They met in college
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Tamara Hurwitz and Bill Pullman at The 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 27, 2019 Los Angeles, California.
Bill and Tamara met while doing theater in college, per Vanity Fair. Both attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Bill received his master’s of fine arts and Tamara was a dance student.
In 2017, Tamara shared the story of how she and her husband first met with UMass Magazine.
“Bill and I met in a play directed by Ed Golden, Molière Impromptu,” she said. “Ed cast us as husband and wife, and so we invited him to our wedding.”
Now, the duo have shared more than four decades together.
“We met 40 years ago,” Bill told PEOPLE in 2020. “It’s been a good, long epic with three kids that are all doing well, and everybody’s tight.”
They have been married for more than 30 years
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Bill Pullman and Tamara Hurwitz.
After meeting in college in the early 1980s, Bill and Tamara tied the knot in 1987.
The couple primarily live in Los Angeles, but spend time in Montana, where Bill jointly owns a ranch. In 2020, Bill shared the secret to their decades-long marriage with PEOPLE.
“I think it’s putting our hands in the dirt; it’s parallel play of digging and planting,” he said. “We spend a lot of time outdoors together. A lot of time at the ranch, so we enjoy those similar things. It’s helped keeping in tune with each other.”
They have three children
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Bill Pullman and wife Tamara Hurwitz with their children Maesa, Jack and Lewis.
Bill and Tamara are proud parents to three children: daughter Maesa, born in 1988, and sons Jack and Lewis, born in 1989 and 1993, respectively.
Related: Bill Pullman’s 3 Kids: All About Maesa, Jack and Lewis
While Lewis is the only one of his children who has followed in his footsteps as an actor, Bill has pride for all of his kids’ creative work.
“All three have evolved into these people that are making their way in the world, doing what they love,” he told Fatherly in May 2021. “How great is that, to feel like they’ve got a fire for something and are committed?”
Maesa is a musician, singer and songwriter, as well as a teacher and leader of an “alternative community choir,” Bill told Fatherly. His son Jack is “so creative” and makes “impressive” puppets and masks, he said.
Bill added that he “never pushed” his younger son, Lewis, toward acting.
“He has his own game,” Bill explained. “I remember Rita Wilson played his mom in a short movie, and I worked with her shortly after and she said, ‘Wow, your son.’ I go, ‘I hope he behaved himself.’ She said, ‘No, no, Bill, he’s an actor.’ “
Lewis is open to reprising some of Bill’s most iconic characters
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Bill Pullman and Lewis Pullman at ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ Global Premiere on September 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.
Bill is no stranger to the spotlight. He’s been acting steadily since his breakout role in 1986’s Ruthless People.
Over the years, Bill has starred in numerous movies, including Newsies and Lost Highway. Bill has also appeared on TV, including roles on Revelations, Torchwood: Miracle Day and 1600 Penn.
One day, Lewis would consider portraying some of his dad’s characters — including Dr. James Harvey in Casper and Jack Callaghan in 1995’s While You Were Sleeping — with a catch.
“That’s sacred grounds to step on, especially something as beloved as Casper,” he told PEOPLE in October 2024. “I would [do] a prequel where I play him younger.”
He continued, “I would love to do While You Were Sleeping, but in maybe their children that they have … something else happens, where I play their son. I would never want to step into the shoes of Pop. Can’t outdo what he did. I wouldn’t even try.”
Bill has given Lewis career advice
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Lewis Pullman and Bill Pullman at Participant Media 2017 TIFF party on September 11, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.
Bill’s words of wisdom are “pretty invaluable” to Lewis, “because he knows me so well as a person,” he told PEOPLE in May 2023.
However, the actor was initially hesitant to ask for his dad’s advice about his career. At first, Lewis said he was being “ignorant in being like, ‘I need to do it my own way.’ “
“I quite quickly realized it was incredibly foolish not to utilize this remarkable resource that I had who happened to be my dad,” he continued.
Bill’s biggest piece of advice is about “subverting expectations,” Lewis told Popsugar in May 2023.
“[My father] always thinks, ‘What is the obvious way to do this [role]?’ And then, ‘What is the opposite way?’ And then, ‘How can I justify that?’ And it always ends up being remarkably interesting,” he said. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘I can’t figure out how to justify it.’ And he always has some really creative ways in, and that’s been really helpful for me.”
The fact that Lewis comes to Bill for advice helps him feel “included,” Bill said in a June 2019 appearance on PEOPLE Now.
“He’s so open … I don’t know if I would have been,” Bill said. “It’s so great that he’s been able to talk through things and he comes to me with things and questions.”
Bill is Lewis’ biggest supporter
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Bill Pullman and Lewis Pullman at the Red Carpet screening of “Independence Day Resurgence” on June 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
Bill has no shortage of nice things to say about his children, including Lewis.
During his 2019 appearance on PEOPLE Now, Bill said that he thinks Lewis is “a better actor than I am.”
In 2024, both Bill and Lewis campaigned for Emmys at the same time, with Bill seeking a nod for his work in Murdaugh Murders: The Movie and Lewis for Lessons in Chemistry. In May of that year, Bill said that the experience had been “great to see.”
“We’re doing something, I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again, but we’re both doing this Emmy thing at the same time,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “Billboards in L.A., you’d go down it’d be Lewis, then me, Lewis, me. All the Pullmans!”
Bill added, “He’s gotten quite a bit of recognition for that part. It’s been great, real magic between he and Brie Larson. I think that’s kind of like lightning in a bottle.”
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