Meg Ryan defends son Jack Quaid against ‘nepo baby’ label

Fans of classic 80s and 90s movies like You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle are sure to recognize Meg Ryan, but the new generation will be more familiar with her son, Jack Quaid, for his appearances in shows like The Boys and movies like 2022’s Scream. Quaid, who is the son of Meg Ryan and fellow actor Dennis QUaid, has been labeled a “nepo baby” by the public, but his mom is fighting back against those claims in a recent interview with Glamour.

By definition, a “nepo baby” is the child of someone who was already successful in the field that the child goes into. In Hollywood, this means someone who has a parent or two parents who are in the movie industry and then goes into acting, or someone who releases an album when one or both of their parents work at music studios — some nepo babies, though, can go into a different field than their parents.

Jack Quaid, son of two silver screen superstars from the 80s and 90s, is a nepo baby by definition. Though he has talent and fans in his own right, he still had a leg up when he declared acting his passion. This passion is something his mom says he’s had since middle school when she and her ex-husband, dad Dennis Quaid, saw him in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“I was newly divorced from his dad, and he was seated at the other side of the gym. I had my head in my hands and was like, ‘Oh, no. He’s good. He’s really good.’ I leaned forward, and I see Dennis, and he’s also leaning forward with his head in his hands. I just knew,” Meg Ryan told Glamour on seeing her son on the stage for the first time.

Meg Ryan denies that nepotism helped Jack Quaid

Though her son may be talented and have a passion for bringing scripts to life on his own, people still label him as a “nepo baby” because of his famous parents and cite some of his success to the Hollywood connections he gained through them. This is something that Meg Ryan spoke out against in her interview with Glamour.

She said that referring to him as a nepo baby is “so dismissive of his work ethic” and says that he is totally aware of the fact that his family helped him get where he is, saying that he’s “sensitive” to his own privilege. She says fame isn’t all easy and that she wouldn’t wish the constant criticism and scrutiny of being in the public eye on anyone, much less her own son. “It’s too hard and it’s too weird,” she said.