Long before the days of Kim and Kanye, the tabloids couldn't get enough of Hollywood
royalty Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid. Although they've since split, they share one son, Jack.
Here's everything we know about Jack Quaid, who's grown up to be just as good-looking
as his parents.
Jack Quaid was born and raised in Los Angeles, as you would expect of the child of two super-famous
actors. But even though children of Hollywood royalty sometimes garner a reputation for
being spoiled, Jack said his parents insulated him from that mentality. He told WWD,
"Growing up, you're able to at least see the culture projected out there, like the Hollywood
nonsense, and you're able to see it for what it is — nonsense [...] I had great parents.
They really kept me away from that thing, that Hollywood-ness."
Although Jack knew that his upbringing wasn't exactly normal, his mom and dad instilled
in him the ability to know when people aren't being genuine. Jack revealed during the Allegedly
podcast,
"I would notice kids at school would want to be my friend for the wrong reasons [...] I
just kind of know who's a bull---- artist immediately."
Meg Ryan was the Hollywood it-girl for years, starring as the leading lady in iconic films
like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail to name just a few. She
also has producing credits, and a directing credit to her name. Taking all of that into
consideration, you may not expect Ryan to be a normal mom who takes on everyday tasks
like cooking for her kids, but that's exactly what she did. In fact, Jack remembers it fondly,
as he recalled in an interview with The New Potato,
"She would make these amazing breakfast sandwiches every morning before I went to school for
like three years straight. We called it the 'Egg McMom.' Weird name. Great sandwich."
Despite the fact that Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid were super smitten with each other for
a long time, the romance wasn't destined to last forever. Jack shared during the Allegedly
podcast,
"My parents got divorced when I was eight [...] It's one of those weird ages. [...] You're
old enough to know what's going on, but young enough to be kind of naive about it."
It's a shame they couldn't make it work, but they gave it a good run. As for Jack's perspective
on the issue, he explained on Allegedly,
"I mean [...] it's a hard deal [...] But, I mean, it's just as hard as any other divorce,
really."
Jack also added that his parents still see each other on occasion when they're planning
something for their son.
Given that Jack Quaid is the son of two Hollywood legends, it seems only natural that he's pursuing
a career in front of the camera. It was a middle school production of Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which he played the donkey-headed Bottom, that cemented his
desire to become an actor and a comedian, as he told WWD,
"After the first night when I got my first laugh onstage, I think that was the moment
of, 'Yeah, I want to do this for the rest of my life.'"
After that, he went on to enroll at the famous Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
But his career began to pick up before he graduated, so he never finished his studies.
Big breaks don't come any bigger than The Hunger Games, in which Jack Quaid was cast
as Marvel, one of the career tributes who train their whole lives to fight to the death
in President Snow's arena. If you're wondering which one Marvel was, he was the person who
killed Rue, which is why everyone hates his character. He explained to Rama’s Screen,
"Anytime I post anything on Instagram, there's at least one comment that's like 'You killed
Rue.' Now that I'm talking about it, it's probably going to happen even more."
"I'm the guy that kills her and people hate me."
Despite the fact that celebrities seem superhuman at times, Jack Quaid admits that he struggles
with his mental health just like anyone else. During an interview with Project UROK, he
explained,
"I've always been slightly more anxious than your average Joe [...] I remember [my] freshman
year of college, I started having panic attacks."
As a result, he started to learn more about how the brain works so he could figure out
how to calm himself down. Jack also shared that he had been in therapy as a child to
help him process his parents' divorce, which showed him the importance of having someone
to talk to. His openness is one important step towards fighting the stigma of mental
illness.
After landing the role of Marvel in The Hunger Games, Jack Quaid secured a part in Vinyl,
a show on HBO with big-name executive producers like Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger. Of his
experience being cast in Vinyl, a show about the music industry in the 1970s, Jack told
The New Potato,
"It was absolutely insane. I still can't exactly believe that it happened."
Of working on the show, Jack revealed to NME,
"Mick Jagger was there a lot [...] I would never be ready for him. He would appear out
of nowhere, shout 'Great scene!' and then just walk away. [...] It almost scared you."
In the show, Jack played a junior A&R executive who was trying to make a name for himself
in the industry. He shared in an interview with WWD,
"What I like about him is that being a person in the record industry is historically a very
cool job [...] To take a character who is such a square through this crazy world of
sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, that was the most fun part — because that's who I feel
like I'd be, if I had the job."
Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after only one season.
After appearing alongside Adam Driver, Channing Tatum, and Daniel Craig in Logan Lucky, Jack
Quaid wrapped up 2017 by appearing in Tragedy Girls, a movie about two death-obsessed teenage
girls. Then in 2018, he appeared in the blockbuster Rampage, which starred The Rock. Clearly the
actor has some serious range, given the diversity of projects he's done to date. As for what
roles he'd love to secure in the future, Jack told GQ,
"I feel like all the types that I'm thinking of right now are for older actors. But, you
know, if it turns out that way later, I would always want to play, like, a fun dad role.
A dad that's like a little too trying to be cool. [...] I've always wanted to play the
villain in a movie, too. Just straight up and down villain. I've kind of done that,
but I'd love to explore that more."
Obviously Jack had some pretty inspiring actors around him growing up, both at home with his
parents, and being around their peers on movie sets. After all, it's not every day that you
get to go behind the scenes of movies like French Kiss. But when it comes to what inspired
him to go into acting, Jack doesn't list his famous parents. Instead, he told Maxim,
"Jim Carrey's definitely someone I want to work with. He's one of the reasons I wanted
to become an actor. I don't care if it's a drama or a comedy, anything with him would
be a dream come true."
Jack Quaid had a pretty major role in Ithaca, his famous mom's directorial debut. In the
movie, Jack played Ryan's oldest son who's off fighting in World War II. Also starring
in the movie were heavyweights like Tom Hanks and Sam Shepard, so you know this was a serious
set to be on. But Ryan knew her son would be a natural, as she revealed on Good Morning
America,
"He was so born to it in so many ways. He did his 10,000 hours of directing, and writing,
and acting by the time he was like, ten."
Additionally, Ryan knew that her son had the real-world experience necessary to carry the
role, and explained,
"By the time he got to my set he'd been to Martin Scorsese's set, he's now on Steven
Soderbergh's set, so he's kind of a pro."
Meg Ryan isn't the only parent doting on his son's burgeoning career, as Jack's dad, the
one and only Dennis Quaid, had some super kind things to say about him as well. Dennis
shared in an interview on Megyn Kelly Today,
"It was very obvious that Jack was going to be an actor or a filmmaker from the time that
he was three."
"It wasn't anything we pushed him towards. His mom's Meg Ryan."
He noted that he and Ryan didn't encourage or discourage their son's acting ambitions,
but they did have one rule, however, when it came to their son's acting pursuits. Dennis
revealed on Megyn Kelly Today,
"The only thing we didn't let him do was become a child actor [...] He got Hunger Games first,
and then he did Vinyl, you know, working with Scorsese, and I'm like, hey now [...] how
about helping me out?"
"Yeah Jack, he's doing great man. So proud of him."
With a career like Jack Quaid's, you wouldn't figure that he'd have a back-up plan in case
the acting roles unexpectedly dried up. But interestingly enough he does, and it's different.
Jack revealed in an interview with WWD,
"I'm working on a one-man show about a wizard who parties. [...] It's just like a thing
I've done at parties that I've somehow managed to turn into a 45-minute comedy show."
While the concept might sound a little weird, Jack's fans are sure to be the first in line
to buy tickets to anything the actor does.
While Jack Quaid had some pretty impressive credits to his name by the time 2019 rolled
around, arguably his best and biggest parts were yet to come. Perhaps his most impressive
role to date, and a true big break, is his work on the Amazon Prime series The Boys.
Alongside powerhouse actors like Karl Urban, Quaid plays Hughie Campbell, a regular person
who's out for vengeance against morally bankrupt superheroes. The series quickly became one
of Amazon's most-watched shows, which means a lot more people know who Jack is since watching
it. Plus, Jack soaked up every amazing moment of being on set for The Boys, as he recalled
to NME,
"It was an insane moment in my life [...] I was working with all these people I'd admired
for so long and I just felt incredibly lucky to be there."
If there's one thing that Jack Quaid was born to do, it's romantic comedies. After all,
his mother is an undisputed queen of the genre. So perhaps it was destiny when Jack snagged
the role of Ben in Plus One. In order to prepare for the part, Jack watched none other than
When Harry Met Sally, as he says the dialogue between his mother and Billy Crystal in the
film was totally inspiring. Jack told Glamour,
"I think that's a really important staple [of rom-coms]: having a good back-and-forth
with your scene partner. Not that I took everything from that, but that's a good jumping-off point
when I started the process. It’s just a classic. Even if [my mom] wasn’t in it,
I would love it."
Jack got lucky in love in real life, too, as he's been in a relationship with Lizzy
McGroder since 2016, according to an Instagram post.
Being the child of two incredibly famous actors is a double-edged sword; on one hand, you're
steeped in privilege and have an edge over everyone else. On the other hand, people think
they already know who you are, something that Jack Quaid is finally getting out from under.
During an interview with NME, he quipped,
"I love my parents. I'm also a huge fan. But it is nice when people start to get to know
you for your own work as well."
While there are worse things than having people adore you because of your birthright, it's
not everything that Jack is, as he told NME,
"It doesn't bother me, but sometimes in interviews people tell me how much they loved The Right
Stuff or whatever, and they look at me like I had something to do with it. I wasn't even
a concept yet! I get credit for a movie that came out even before I was born!”
Given all that Jack has accomplished, it's safe to say that his star is still rising,
and we're likely to see even more of him in the future.
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