Jack Quaid says he’s “incredibly privileged” to be a nepo baby
The nepotism debate has become particularly prominent in the past few years, with many highlighting how much of Hollywood and other creative industries are populated by the relatives of already-famous stars.
The children of pre-existing famous people have been dubbed ‘nepo babies’, with everyone from Sofia Coppola to Lily-Rose Depp classified as products of nepotism. While some nepo babies have carved out successful careers for themselves, clearly possessing enough talent to earn acclaim away from the shadow of their parents’ name, others simply don’t have the creative chops to earn significant respect.
For Jack Quaid, the son of Hollywood legends Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, shying away from the fact he has famous parents would be an immense dismissal of his privilege. The actor believes that he’s been lucky enough to have a considerable leg-up due to the connections he was born with, and it would be unfair of him to claim otherwise.
The actor, who is best known for his role as Hughie in The Boys, spoke to The Daily Beast about being a nepo-baby. He explained, “I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that’s more than half the battle. I knew the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it’s just not for a lot of actors.”
Knowing that he has a significant advantage over a lot of actors in Hollywood, Quaid stated that, while his career was getting started, he “just tried to work as hard as I possibly can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door.”
Quaid landed his first acting role in the massive teen dystopian hit The Hunger Games, starring as Marvel, one of the most villainous characters in the film. Other notable movies of his include 2022’s Scream, Logan Lucky, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Oppenheimer.
His mother, on the other hand, believes it is a disservice to his acting skills to suggest that he only has a career because of his parents, suggesting that it “undermines” his capabilities. In response, Quaid said, “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.’”
The actor added, “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. So, no, I don’t think she was trying to say that I’m not a privileged person. She knows. She must know. I think she was being a mom.”