Jack Quaid, the son of superstars Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, has no problem embracing the “nepo baby” label.
At the age of 31, the actor has amassed over 60 television and film credits and currently stars in the hit Amazon Prime Video series, The Boys.
And he admits that being a son of Hollywood has put him in a “privileged” position.
“I’m an immensely privileged person, I was able to get representation fairly early, and that’s more than half the battle,” Jack said. Daily Beast in a new interview on Thursday.
“I knew the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it’s not open for a lot of actors. And I’ve tried to work as hard as I can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door.”
Jack Quaid, son of superstars Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, has no problem embracing the label of “nepo kid.” In a new interview, the 31-year-old actor admitted that he is in a “privileged” position.
Jack is also aware of his privilege when he tries out for a role in a romantic comedy, considering his mother Meg is the ‘Undisputed queen of romantic comedies’.
“So if it’s in the romantic comedy space, it has to be different enough, and I need to work really hard,” she told the outlet.
Quaid He made his film debut in The Hunger Games (2012), alongside Jennifer Lawrence. and Josh Hutcherson, and has since built an impressive Hollywood resume.
Most recently, he starred in the Scream reboot (2022), the biographical thriller Oppenheimer (2023), and three seasons of the satirical superhero series The Boys.
He currently has no less than three different films in some stage of post-production including the sci-fi thriller Companio with Sophie Thatcher; the action thriller Novocaine co-starring Amber Midthunder and Ray Nicholson, and the action comedy Heads Of State, starring Idris Elba, John Cena and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Ironically, it was Ryan who attempted to defend his son from the “nepo baby” moniker by highlighting how the term belittles the work his son has done in his career.
“That story about Nepo is so dismissive of his work ethic, his gifts and how sensitive he is to the idea of his privilege,” Ryan, 62, told the outlet at the time.
While Jack was very grateful for his mother’s return, he also admitted that he benefited from having famous parents.
“I’m an immensely privileged person, I was able to get representation pretty early, and that’s more than half the battle,” Jack told the Daily Beast in a new interview on Thursday; Jack seen with his mother Meg in 2004 when he was just 11 years old
Jack is also aware of his privilege when he tries out for a role in a romantic comedy, considering his mother Meg is the “undisputed queen of rom-coms”; Meg seen in March.
“My first thought was that she’s a loving mother, but I don’t think she’s trying to say that I’m not a nepo baby. I think she’s just trying to say that, in her opinion, that undermines my talent,” he told the Daily Beast.
“I don’t think that diminishes my talent. I know I work hard and I know I’ve heard ‘no’ more than ‘yes.’ But I also know that it’s incredibly difficult to break into this industry and I had an easier time than most. Both of those things can be true.”
Ryan, 62, truly remembers the moment she and her recently divorced husband realized their son was destined for stardom when they saw him in a high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“I had just divorced his father and he was sitting across the gym from me. I had my head in my hands and I was like, ‘Oh no. He’s good. He’s really good,'” the When Harry Met Sally actress explained…
“I leaned forward and saw Dennis, who was also leaning forward with his head in his hands. I knew,” he recalled.
Dennis and Meg were married from 1991 to 2001 and Jack is their only child.
In 2022, Jack was among the celebrity children who were named in a New York magazine article last year with the headline She has her mother’s eyes. And her agent: Overanalyzing the Hollywood baby boom.
“I knew that the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it’s not open for a lot of actors. And I’ve tried to work as hard as I can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door,” Jack said; Jack seen with his father Jack
At the age of 31, the actor has amassed over 60 television and film credits and currently stars in the hit Amazon Prime Video series The Boys.
The article addressed the seemingly growing phenomenon of children born to famous people seeking a career in show business.
Along with other famous children, Jack was portrayed on the cover with his adult head superimposed on a baby’s body.
The other young stars on the cover include Dakota Johnson (daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith), John David Washington (son of Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington), Maya Hawke (daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman), Zoe Kravitz (daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet), Lily-Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis) and Maude Apatow (daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann.
