Ray Romano Wonders If Sons' 'Privilege' Gave Them a 'Disadvantage' in Life: 'They Have 11 Bathrooms' (Exclusive)

12/21/2024 10:00 AM

"If they needed to go out and find a passion or find a job, would they do it?," Ray asks about his twin sons while speaking with PEOPLE

Ray Romano is reflecting on his kids' upbringing and the impact his fame may have had on it.

Sitting down with PEOPLE, the 66-year-old actor discusses the upcoming documentary Romano Twins, which follows his sons Matt and Greg, now 31, as they open up about living at home in their mid-twenties and navigating life with a famous father. The documentary premiered at Florida's Fort Lauderdale Film Festival in November.

While talking about the difficulty his sons have faced finding a career path, Ray, who appears in the documentary, says he often thinks about how their lives might have turned out if the family hadn't been in the public eye.

"I sometimes wonder, are we presenting a disadvantage for them by providing them with so much?" he says. "Necessity is the mother of invention. If they needed to go out and find a passion or find a job, would they do it?"

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While he sometimes fears that his sons' failure to launch might be a result of his fame, the Everybody Loves Raymond star looks back at his own trajectory for reassurance. "You look at me and I was living in a house with one bathroom in Queens, and I stayed in that house until I was 29," he says. "They have 11 bathrooms, so I'm not expecting them to want to move, but it was a problem for me until I did find a career in stand-up."

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Reflecting on their dad's perspective, the twins acknowledge that they're unsure if their "rut" is tied to their upbringing. "There's no denying that if I had to find a way to put food on the table, I would've had no choice," Greg says. "Maybe it's a little easier to be stuck in a rut because I was lucky enough to not have to figure out how to survive every day."

Matt adds, "We will never truly know — we will never know the answer to that question, but at a certain point, we can ask ourselves as many times as we want, or we can just get the ball moving and work our way out of it."

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Now both living independently, with Matt married, the twins are working on a movie script with their younger brother Joe, 26. (Joe appears in the documentary, along with their mother Anna, 61, and sister Alexandra, 34.) They say their father's success makes them believe that they, too, can make it.

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"I've wondered if I would feel the same if my dad wasn't who he is," Greg admits. "I think it would've always been a dream, but him being in the business and having connections makes it feel achievable." 

Matt continues, "It is also a testament to how thankful and privileged we are to be in this position, having a dad who has gone from not having the connections to doing it. To know that things are possible, I think that comes from having this upbringing as well."

Though Ray admits he's wary of his sons pursuing careers in entertainment — "It's an industry full of failure," he says — he's supportive as long as they're following their passions. "I just want them to know, it doesn't matter what you do. It's about finding something you like to do, and that's going to be the answer," he says.

He adds, "You should take your privilege and use that to give yourself the time to find your passion. The river always wins. Persistence."