Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid's Son Jack Opens Up About Parents' Divorce
He was just 5-years-old when his parents divorced in 1997.
— -- Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan's son, Jack Quaid, is opening up about their divorce and life growing up with parents in the spotlight.
During an interview on the "Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss" podcast, the 23-year-old "Vinyl" star explained his feelings as a child, when his parents divorced.
Dennis and Ryan split in the late 1990s after a decade of marriage. Jack, their only child together, was 9-years-old when the divorce was finalized in July 2001.
"It's one of those weird ages for your parents to get divorced," Quaid said. "You're old enough to know what's going on, but young enough to be kind of naïve about it. It's a whole deal."
Because of his parent's celebrity status, their divorce was magnified in the media and the frequent reminders made it more difficult for Quaid as a young boy.
"It's hard to ignore when you're at a grocery story and you're checking out and you look at [magazines]," he said, "and there's a photo of them with a little paper rip graphic between them. It's a hard deal."
Quaid described his childhood as regular, despite what it may have appeared from the outside. "I acknowledge fully the way that I grew up was not normal," he said. "But at the same time, it was normal in the sense that, despite what my parents do, they are still a mom and a dad. It's not like they are their characters at the dinner table or anything like that."
He said his feelings about their work have always been positive. "It's not like I want to escape from it," he continued. "I'm a huge fan of both of their work. Really, I'm a big fan. The thing that's nice about it, something that I'm really grateful to have, is they share this enthusiasm for telling stories and acting."
Quaid has followed in his parents footsteps and is now an actor. He understands why he gets comparisons to his parents and says he doesn't mind. "I also get that it's interesting," he said.
The actor is currently starring as Clark Morelle on the HBO show "Vinyl."
"I'm really happy," Quaid said. "It's a cool job. If I had parents who weren't actors, I'd still be over the moon to have this job."
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