Everyone’s favourite nepo baby, Jack Quaid, has wooed fans after acknowledging the privilege of having two A-List parents.
The 32-year-old actor – who most recently starred in the hit Amazon Prime series The Boys – is the son of iconic 90s couple Meg Ryan, 62, and Dennis Quaid, 70. The pair got divorced in 2001 after a decade of marriage.
As such he is a prime example of a nepo baby – a colloquial term for modern-day stars who have benefitted from having relatives already established in the notoriously gatekept arts industry.
In recent years many celebrities have addressed their supposed privilege, including Lily Rose-Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp) and Lily Collins (daughter of Phil Collins).
Actor Emma Roberts (niece of Julia Roberts) recently claimed her insider connections have harmed rather than helped her career. She echoed singer Lily Allen’s concerns that the discourse was misogynistic by pointing to men such as George Clooney.
Now Jack has offered his two-pence to the discussion and has given the people exactly what they want to hear.
‘No matter what I do, people are going to call attention to it. People have called me a “nepo baby.” I’m inclined to agree,’ he said on The Daily Beast’s The Last Laugh podcast.
He added: ‘I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that’s more than half the battle.’
Fans took to social media to praise the humble response.
‘Correct take from a nepo baby on being a nepo baby,’ @mariaggonzalaez wrote on X.
‘Every “legacy” entertainer needs to memorize this word for word, bar for bar. It’s the perfect response to nepo baby charges and it has the added benefit of being correct,’ @megalodondada echoed.
‘It’s not hard to have humility and self-awareness. Here’s an example of a nepo baby who gets it: “Yes, I’m lucky and privileged, but that doesn’t mean I suck.” It’s that easy,’ @arttavana agreed.
The actor has previously starred in Oppenheimer, Scream, The Hunger Games and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Elsewhere in the interview Jack defended his mum’s recent comments about his nepo baby status.
The When Harry Met Sally star told Glamour that Jack was ‘really talented’ and that the ‘nepo stuff is so dismissive of his work ethic, his gifts, and how sensitive he is to the idea of his privilege.’
Although some fans shared their disappointment at Meg’s take, Jack attributed it to her just ‘being a loving mom’.
He continued: ‘I think she’s just trying to say that, in her opinion, it undermines my talent. 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. 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,’ he concluded.
Jack plays Hughie Campbell in satricial superhero series The Boys.
‘We get deep with every character this season,’ he said about what fans can expect from the current season.
‘We get into what makes them tick. And it’s been fascinating for me as a reader of all the scripts, and the people who play them so well get to see them stretch, go in different directions, and do things I never expected.
‘So I’m excited for audiences to see that.’
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