Dennis Quaid and his son Jack Quaid are rarely spotted in public together, but that didn't stop them from spending time together at a Golden Globes after-party on Sunday, January 7, 2024. Dennis Quaid, 69, shares Jack Quaid, 31, with Meg Ryan. Dennis and Meg were married from 1991 to 2001.
Dennis also shares two children with his ex-wife Kimberly Buffington. Because both of his parents are famous, Jack's mom has expressed concern that people might think of him as a "nepo baby," which she thinks is extremely dismissive of his talent.
Jack is also an actor. He is best known for his role in The Boys, an Amazon Prime Video superhero series. He also voices Clark Kent in My Adventures With Superman and was in Oppenheimer.
But his mom says he's not just a "nepo baby" — he's "a natural."
"Jack is really talented," Meg previously told Glamour. "He’s more of a natural than I’ll ever be. That nepo stuff is so dismissive of his work ethic, his gifts, and how sensitive he is to the idea of his privilege.”
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Jack's parents might both be actors, but he told People that he has never asked them for acting advice.
"The way that this business works is so much different than the way that it worked back then for them. I'm experiencing some things for the first time, like working on a movie set during COVID," Jack explained.
Still, as his mom mentioned, he's also aware of his privilege: having actors as parents did help him out, he admitted, because they always encouraged him to pursue his dreams.
"It's lucky that I got to grow up saying, 'Hey, I want to be an actor' and they understood that," he said.
When he was younger, he didn't necessarily realize that having actors as parents was unusual. He grew up around kids who were in a similar situation. As he got older, he came to realize that his upbringing was pretty unique.
"I grew up with friends who also had parents in the industry, so it didn't really feel different," he previously told People. "But then you grow up, and you realize that's a pretty unique thing, that not one but two of your parents are actors. You don't realize that things are slightly abnormal until later."
Jack is also aware of people's "nepo baby" criticism, but he doesn't let it bother him. Though he admitted to Thrillist that he considered changing his name, he also told the outlet that what other people think doesn't really matter.
"I knew that people would constantly say, 'Oh, I know how he got that job,'" he told the outlet. "And they're still going to say that. It's fine. But as long as I knew how I got there, that would be enough."
A casting director was once surprised to find out that Jack was "actually really good," he told Thrillist, because she was expecting him to be another nepo baby who didn't necessarily have much talent.
Besides, many fans have also jumped to Jack's defense.
"Jack Quaid is the people’s nepo baby," one person wrote on X.
Another wrote, "Jack Quaid is a top tier nepo baby."
