What you need to know
Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann are proud parents as they watch their daughter Maude Apatow’s career continue to soar.
At the 2025 WIF (Women in Film) Honors held on Thursday, November 6, Maude, 27, was honored with the Max Mara Face of the Future Award, which “recognizes rising stars who embody style and grace.” In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at an event in Los Angeles, Leslie, 53, reflected on her daughter’s recent honor and said she and her husband, 57, a director and producer, are “thrilled.”
“It’s very exciting,” Judd added. “I’m speechless.”
When asked about Maud being a rising star and following in her parents’ footsteps and making her mark in the industry, Leslie said the 27-year-old should “pick up the baton”.
“She’s talented,” the This Is 40 star raved, to which Judd chimed in, “Yeah, I’m taking the baton down.”
“I’ll pass it on,” Leslie added.
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The couple, who also share daughter Iris Apatow, 23, spoke to PEOPLE about how Maude broke away from her family’s comedic tradition by playing Lexi Howard in the teen drama series Euphoria.
“We just follow her lead. We trust her instincts,” Leslie says of her reaction to Maud’s decision to take on the role. “She’s a smart person, so to be honest, we just follow her dreams.”
Maud first appeared on screen in her father’s 2007 film Knocked Up and has since appeared in films such as The King of Staten Island, One of Them Days and Hollywood. For her latest project, she steps behind the camera and makes her directorial debut with the coming-of-age film Poetic License.
Leslie stars in the film as Liz, a married mother and soon-to-be-vacant, who ends up auditing a college poetry class, a source of tension between seniors vying for her affections and longtime best friends Sam (Andrew Barth Feldman) and Ali (Cooper Hoffman).
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Recalling the experience of filming a movie with her daughter in the director’s chair last year, Leslie told PEOPLE that she wishes she could “go back and relive it all.”
“It was such an amazing experience, and being able to spend every day with my daughter and having her talk to me all day was so great,” she says.
Leslie added of Maud, “She’s one of my favorite people, if not my favorite person,” and joked, “Sorry, Judd and Iris.”
Judd says he is “very impressed” with Maud’s work on the film, which will have its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in September and is scheduled for theatrical release in May 2026.
“It’s really interesting to see what her perspective is and what her style is, because she really had a vision of what she wanted to do with ‘Poetic License.’ It’s really sweet and funny and emotional,” he explains.
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Leslie previously told PEOPLE that she “felt very safe” in Maude’s hands while filming Poetic License. “We can read each other’s minds, so it felt like a no-noise, just purely creative space,” she said. “I really enjoyed being an actor.”
Maud admitted that she “didn’t know what was going to happen” when the two started working together. But, she said, “It was smooth. It was really smooth.”
