Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan's actor son Jack Quaid takes no issue with 'nepo baby' label: 'I am an immensely privileged person'
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Jack Quaid — the son of superstars Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan — has no problem owning up to the 'nepo baby' label.
At the age of 31, the actor has racked up over 60 TV and film credits and is currently starring on the hit Amazon Prime Video series The Boys.
And he acknowledges that being a Hollywood offspring has put him in a 'privileged' position.
'I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that's more than half the battle,' Jack told the Daily Beast in a new interview on Thursday.
'I knew the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it's just not for a lot of actors. And I've just tried to work as hard as I possibly can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door.'
Jack Quaid — the son of superstars Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan — has no problem owning up to the 'nepo baby' label. In a new interview, the actor, 31, admitted that he's in a 'privileged' position
Jack is also aware of his privilege when he's up for a role in a romantic comedy, considering his mom Meg is the 'undisputed Queen of Rom-Coms.'
'So if that's in the rom-com space, it's got to be different enough, and I need to work my a** off,' he told the outlet.
Quaid made his film debut in The Hunger Games (2012), alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, and has since gone on to build an impressive Hollywood resume.
More recently, he starred in the Scream (2022) reboot, 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 phase of post-production that includes the sci-fi thriller Companio with Sophie Thatcher; the action thriller Novocaine co-starring Amber Midthunder and Ray Nicholson, and action-comedy Heads Of State starring Idris Elba, John Cena and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Ironically, it was Ryan who tried to defend her son from the nepo baby moniker by shining a light on how the term discounts the work her son has put in to his career.
'That nepo stuff 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 more than appreciated his mother having is back, he made a point of admitting that he has benefitted from having famous parents.
'I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that's more than half the battle,' Jack told the Daily Beast in a new interview on Thursday; Jack seen with mom Meg in 2004 when he was just 11
Jack is also aware of his privilege when he's up for a role in a romantic comedy, considering his mom Meg is the 'undisputed Queen of Rom-Coms'; Meg seen in March
'My first thought was like, she's being a mom. She's being a loving mom. 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, it undermines my talent,' he told the Daily Beast.
'I don't think it undermines my talent. I know that I work hard, and I know I've heard 'no' way more than I've heard 'yes.' But I also know that this industry is insanely hard to break into, and I had an easier time doing that than most. Both things can be true.'
Ryan, 62, actually remembers the time when she and her newly divorced husband came to the realization that their son was destined for stardom when they saw him in a middle school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
'I was newly divorced from his dad, and he was seated at the other side of the gym. I had my head in my hands and was like, 'Oh, no. He's good. He's really good,' the When Harry Met Sally... actress explained.
'I leaned forward, and I see Dennis, and he's also leaning forward with his head in his hands. I just knew,' she 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 piece last year with the headline She Has Her Mother's Eyes. And Agent: Extremely Overanalyzing Hollywood's Nepo-Baby Boom.
'I knew the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it's just not for a lot of actors. And I've just tried to work as hard as I possibly can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door,' said Jack; Jack seen with dad Jack
At the age of 31, the actor has racked up over 60 TV and film credits and is currently starring on the hit Amazon Prime Video series The Boys
The piece delved into the seemingly growing phenomenon of kids born to famous people who themselves seek a career in show business.
Along with other famous kids, Jack was pictured on the cover with his adult head superimposed on an infant'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.
