All About Jack Quaid's Famous Parents, Dad Dennis Quaid and Mom Meg Ryan

Jack Quaid grew up witnessing dad Dennis Quaid and mom Meg Ryan's work in Hollywood

Jack Quaid’s parents, Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, might be mega-stars in their own right, but to the Scream 5 actor, they’ve always been dad and mom.

“I grew up with friends who also had parents in the industry, so it didn't really feel different,” Jack told PEOPLE in 2023. “But then you grow up, and you realize that's a pretty unique thing, that not one but two of your parents are actors. You don't realize that things are slightly abnormal until later.”

According to Dennis, Jack followed in his footsteps early on. “He had a video camera in his hand when he was, like, 4 years old,” the Parent Trap star shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021. “It was just a natural thing he did. ... Ever since he was a kid, it was kind of obvious that he was gonna do that.”

In 2022, Jack told PEOPLE that despite his parents being successful actors, they allowed him the freedom to forge his own path and didn't try to give him advice. "It's lucky that I got to grow up saying, 'Hey, I want to be an actor,' and they understood that," he said.

Dennis told Kelly Clarkson of his son, "Even more than an actor, he's really turned out to be a really fine man.”

Here’s everything to know about Jack Quaid's relationship with his parents, Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

Meg says Jack is “different” from her and Dennis

Fans are quick to draw comparisons between Jack and his famous parents — particularly in their resemblance.

“People think I’m a solid half and half I think. Some people see Mom, some people see Dad. It’s kind of like an optical illusion,” he told USA Today in 2019.

But as Meg told Redbook in 2007, Jack is his own person. "Kids come into the world who they are. Jack is as different from me as Daisy is," she told the publication of her son and her daughter, Daisy True Ryan, whom she welcomed in 2006.

According to the What Happens Later actress, Jack is also “different from his dad.” She added, “He’s his own guy."

Related: Meg Ryan’s 2 Kids: All About Jack Quaid and Daisy True Ryan

Dennis admits he’s a “dorky dad”

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in 2023, Dennis opened up about parenting his three kids: son Jack and twins Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, whom he shares with ex-wife Kimberly Buffington-Quaid.

"I can be loud sometimes," he said. "I kind of feel like a dorky dad a lot.”

Still, the actor relishes the role, including watching them grow.

Dennis continued, "I love being a dad. I really do. I think I'm a good dad. It turned out so far so good. Jack really turned out well. I'm really proud of him and Thomas and Zoe, too."

Related: Dennis Quaid's 3 Kids: All About Jack, Thomas and Zoe

Dennis’ agent offered to represent Jack at the beginning of his career — but Jack turned him down

When Jack's time came to make the leap from his high school stage to the big screen, Dennis’ agent was interested in working with the younger Quaid.

"My agent wanted to represent him, and he said, ‘No, I want to do it on my own,’ ” Dennis recalled to Clarkson in 2021. “Then, of course, he gets an agent on his own, and then his first movie is Hunger Games. And then he gets in [Martin] Scorsese’s Vinyl on television, which was the hottest show there was.”

Dennis joked, "I'm like, 'Hey, how about a little help over here?' ”

Jack thought about changing his name

Jack was so serious about making it in Hollywood on his own terms that he considered going by a different surname. In the end, though, he didn't go through with it.

“I did think about changing my name at one point, but then I was like, A: People are going to know anyway, there’s no getting around that. And B: I like my last name. I’ll keep it,” he explained to USA Today in 2019.

Jack cried after watching Meg’s film When Harry Met Sally

When Harry Met Sally may be one of Meg’s best-known movies, but her son didn’t watch it until his mid-20s.

“I saw it for the first time last year,” he shared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2019. “When you’re a kid, and your mom has one of the famous orgasm scenes of all time."

After landing a part in the rom-com Plus One (2019), Jack changed his mind. “I was like, ‘I’m doing a rom-com, I have to watch the rom-com,’ ” he recalled. “I watched it, it was in the afternoon, I was alone and I immediately started crying because of how proud I was of her.”

When Jack apologized for not watching it earlier, Meg revealed that she had only seen it once herself.

Meg enjoys Jack’s show The Boys — especially the gruesome bits

According to Jack, his mom’s favorite part of his Amazon Prime Video superhero series The Boys is the gore.

“She came on set during one of [Homelander’s] most gruesome scenes, and she was so into it,” he told Jimmy Kimmel in 2019. “I was disturbed by how into she was. She was like, ‘There’s a lot of blood and guts. I’m digging it.’ ”

Jack vividly remembers his parents’ divorce

Though Jack was only 9 years old when Dennis and Meg divorced in 2001, he can recount its effect on him.

“It’s hard to ignore when you’re at a grocery store and you’re checking out and you look at [magazines] and there’s a photo of them with a little paper rip graphic between them,” he told the Allegedly podcast in 2016.

The Oppenheimer star continued, “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.”

Jack’s reaction to their split proved especially important for Meg, who later said that he inspired her 2016 film Ithaca.

“My parents were divorced and I know how hard it is,” Meg shared at a Q&A at the Savannah Film Festival. “I thought, ‘How do you cultivate integrity in a young man? How’s this going to work?’ ”

Jack appeared in Meg’s directorial debut

When Meg was casting her 2016 directorial debut Ithaca, a film about a 14-year-old boy named Homer who looks after his widowed mother, she had Jack in mind for Homer’s older brother.

“He’s so great in the movie, he’s so lovely, he’s got a small part,” she told Entertainment Tonight, proudly adding, “He came from Scorsese’s set to my set.”

Meg also noted that shooting the film with her son was just like being at home with him. “He’s always been such a creative kid,” she said. “At a certain point ... we were shooting on a train, and I thought, ‘This is really no different than, you know, my last 20 years with Jack.’ ”

Meg is proud of Jack’s manners

The You’ve Got Mail actress shared with ET in 2016 that she once received a compliment from a flight attendant on Jack’s behalf.

“He's in his early 20s, and a couple years ago, I was on a plane and this stewardess said to me, ‘Oh! I had your son on a flight the other day, and he's just such a charming boy!’ ” she recalled. “When, independently, strangers talk to me about somebody I know so well, it's so delightful! ... It's great.”

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