Famous Families
Who Is ‘The Boys’ Star Jack Quaid? Meet Exes Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan’s Talented Son
Dennis Quaid‘s eldest son, Jack Quaid, is paving his own way in Hollywood! The Far From Heaven actor welcomed his first child during his marriage to Meg Ryan.
Who Is Jack Quaid?
Jack was born to Dennis and Meg on April 24, 1992. The Parent Trap actor revealed that he named his eldest son after Jack Nicholson.
“I just got to L.A. and my brother [Randy Quaid] got a part in a movie called Missouri Breaks,” he once told E! News. “So I drove my brother’s car up to Montana. My very first movie set, I’m watching these actors, my real heroes. We hung out at Jack Nicholson‘s house every night. He and Randy were good friends.”
“They gave me a lot of encouragement,” he continued. “And that’s a true story that we named him Jack after that.”
Meg always knew Jack would go on to be a great actor after seeing him thrive in a middle school play.
“I remember seeing him in a middle school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He was playing Bottom. I was newly divorced from his dad, and he was seated at the other side of the gym,” she told Glamour in November 2023.
“I had my head in my hands and was like, ‘Oh, no. He’s good. He’s really good,’” she remembered. “I leaned forward, and I see Dennis, and he’s also leaning forward with his head in his hands. I just knew.”
However, she feared the discourse that would surround his acting debut being the child of two famous actors.
“You don’t wish it [on anyone]. It’s too hard and it’s too weird,” Meg confessed. “Jack is really talented. 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.”
A Look at Jack Quaid’s Acting Roles
Jack’s acting debut came in 2012’s The Hunger Games. Roles in Just Before I Go, Ithaca and Workaholics followed. In 2019, he appeared in the role for which he is perhaps best known, Hughie Campbell in The Boys. The Oppenheimer actor also snagged the lead in Adult Swim’s My Adventures with Superman.
With all of his successful roles, Jack reflected on whether or not he ever expected to thrive as an actor.
“It’s funny. Growing up with them was amazing, because they showed me that it could be done,” he told Esquire of his famous parents in July 2023. “Normally, when you tell your parents that you want to be an actor, it’s met with confusion — or them telling you that you’ll never get a job. They showed me that it could be possible. I was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in middle school, and I played Nick Bottom — the guy who gets turned into a donkey — and I had the time of my life. I was a first-time actor playing a character who was an actor, and I thought that was so funny. Getting that first laugh on stage, too, it felt really good.”
Does Jack Quaid Have Siblings?
Jack has three siblings. Meg and Dennis’ marriage officially came to an end in 2001. She went on to adopt her daughter, Daisy, from China when she was 2 years old.
Dennis also added more members to his family when he welcomed twins Thomas and Zoe with ex-wife Kimberly Buffington in 2007 via gestational carrier. Now Dennis is married to Laura Savoie.
