Jack Quaid said his mother, Meg Ryan, was just being protective when she commented on the ‘nepo baby’ discussion in a chat with Glamour. He recently told Daily Beast:
“My first thought was like, she’s being a mom. She’s being a loving mom.”
Ryan criticized the label put on her only son with ex-husband Dennis Quaid by saying it unfairly dismissed his hard work, talent, and understanding of his privilege. The actor shared:
“I don’t think she’s trying to say that I’m not a nepo baby. 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.’ ”
The Actor Worked Hard Despite His ‘Privilege’
Quaid still admitted that Hollywood was hard to break into and he had an easier start than many:
“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. 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. I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that’s more than half the battle.”
‘The Boys’ actor added:
“I knew the door was open for me in a lot of ways that it’s just not for a lot of actors. And I’ve just tried to work as hard as I possibly can to prove that I deserve to walk through that door.”
Ongoing ‘Nepo Baby’ Talks In Media
‘Nepo babies’ became a hot topic on social media in recent months. Some actors like Maya Hawke (‘Stranger Things’) embraced the title and its benefits. When The Times of London asked if she deserved her success, Hawke explained:
“‘Deserves’ is a complicated word. There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don’t, but I think I’m comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway. And I know that my not doing it wouldn’t help anyone. I saw two paths when I was first starting, and one of them was: change your name, get a nose job, and go to open casting roles.”
Meanwhile, Emma Roberts – Julia Roberts’ niece – claimed the debate often had gender biases:
“Everybody loves the kind of overnight-success story. And so if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, there’s kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this.’ I always joke, ‘Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon.’ I feel like young girls get it harder with the nepo-baby thing. Like, I don’t really see people calling out sons of famous actors, not that they should be called out.”
Roberts’ ‘Madame Web’ co-star, Dakota Johnson, also faced criticism for her family’s connection to the film industry. Johnson poked fun at the topic during her ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch. You can watch it below.
