NEED TO KNOW
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Dennis Quaid has three children: son Jack and twins Thomas and Zoe.
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The actor became the father of Jack with his second wife, Meg Ryan, and twins with his third wife, Kimberly Buffington.
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Jack is also an actor, and the twins are about to graduate from high school.
Dennis Quaid has played fathers many times on screen, but in real life he has three children of his own.
In 1992, the actor from the movie "The Parent Trap"« He became the father of his first child, son Jack Quaid, with his second wife, Meg Ryan. More than a decade later, he and his third wife, Kimberly Buffington, had twins, Thomas and Zoe Quaid. .
For the actor from film "Novichok"« Fatherhood completely changed his outlook on life.
«"It helped me take my mind off myself, which is always good for an actor because actors are very self-absorbed," he told PEOPLE magazine in March 2018. "And I learned more patience. I hope!"»
In July 2023, Quaid gave an interview to PEOPLE, opening up about his parenting and calling himself an "awkward dad.".
«"I love being a father," he said. "So far, everything's going well. Jack has truly grown into a wonderful man. I'm very proud of him, and of Thomas and Zoe.".
Jack followed in his parents' footsteps and became an actor, while the twins are preparing for adult life after graduating from high school.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, on May 20, Quaid filed a motion to end the nearly $14,000 in monthly child support payments he had been making to Buffington to support the twins since they graduated from high school.
Here's everything you need to know about Dennis Quaid's kids.
Jack Quaid, 34 years old
Jack Quaid attends the premiere of Extraction at the Regency Village Cinema in Los Angeles on August 2, 2022. Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Jack Henry Quaid was born on April 24, 1992, in Los Angeles to Quaid and Ryan. By the time their first child was born, the couple had been married for a year. However, they separated in 2000, and their divorce was final in 2001.
Recalling the time, Jack, who was 8 years old when his parents divorced, said in a podcast Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss In 2016, he said, "It was one of those weird ages when your parents get divorced." He explained, "You're old enough to understand what's going on, but young enough to be a little naive about it. It's a big deal.".
During the podcast, the actor who played in the film «"Novocaine"» , recalled his childhood and admitted that the way he grew up was "not normal.".
He added, "But at the same time, it was normal in the sense that no matter what my parents do, they're still mom and dad. They don't act like their characters at the dinner table or anything like that.".
From childhood, it was obvious to Quaid that his son would become an actor. In October 2020, in an interview with Kelly Clarkson on The Kelly Clarkson Show« The actor said Jack showed an interest in acting at a "very, very, very young age.".
«"He had a video camera when he was about four years old, making little videos and stuff like that," Quaid said. "It was a completely natural thing for him; we didn't push him. It was obvious from a young age that he would do this.".
Jack attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, where he was president of the Bad Movie Club, as he discussed in a video posted in April 2022 on the Red Letter Media YouTube channel. .
After graduating, he studied for three years at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While at NYU, he also attended Tisch's experimental theater program and was a member of the sketch comedy troupe Hammerkatz.
Jack Quaid and Dennis Quaid attend the after-party for the Sony Pictures Classics screening of "Truth," presented by Armani and Cinema Society, at Armani Ristorante on October 7, 2015, in New York City. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
When Jack was preparing to enter the industry, Quaid said he offered to help his son find an agent, but the young actor wanted to do everything on his own. Jack eventually found his own agent and landed a role in «The Hunger Games» , and then starred in TV series «"Vinyl"» и «"Boys"» .
First of all, Quaid said he was proud of how his son had grown up, telling Clarkson, "He's grown up not only to be an actor, but to be a wonderful person.".
Despite having two famous parents, the actor from the film «"Scream"» said he ultimately didn't get much acting advice from them.
«"I never asked them, 'How do I do this scene?'" he said, adding that he was "lucky" that his parents understood his desire to become an actor.
Jack is the older brother of his father's twins, Thomas and Zoe, and his mother's daughter, Daisy. .
In an interview ET In August 2024, Quaid expressed how proud he was of Jack, joking that given his son's success, he should "reverse the nepotism" towards his father and help him out a little.
«"I'm very proud of him, he's making the right choice. He's a wonderful person. And that's the most important thing. And that's the most important thing, and everything else follows from that," Quaid said.
Jack reportedly married his co-star «"Boys"» Claudia Dumit in April 2026.
Thomas Boone Quaid and Zoe Grace Quaid, 18.
Dennis Quaid with his ex-wife, Kimberly, and twins, Thomas and Zoe, on November 14, 2009, in Los Angeles. Photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage
On November 8, 2007, in Santa Monica, Quaid and his third wife, Buffington, welcomed their two youngest children via a surrogate. The first, Thomas Boone Quaid, was born at 8:26 a.m., weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces. Zoe Grace Quaid arrived two minutes later, weighing 5 pounds 9 ounces.
Just a few weeks after their birth, the twins were hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to a staph infection. While in the hospital, the twins were mistakenly given a dose of heparin, a blood thinner, 1,000 times higher than recommended, putting them at immediate risk.
The parents didn't learn of the overdose until 6:30 a.m. the next day, Buffington told the newspaper. Los Angeles Times, that by the time they got to the hospital, both babies "were in incubators with wires attached to them.".
By early December 2007, the twins had fully recovered and were discharged from the hospital. Following this medical incident, Quaid founded the Quaid Foundation to raise awareness of medical malpractice.
In the months following his near-fatal overdose, the actor told PEOPLE magazine in March 2008 that he "began to appreciate life more in general.".
«"It's the most wonderful thing to hold these children in my arms and see their faces because we have a happy ending," he said. "It's great to be a normal father with all the normal challenges, like not having enough hands to share.".
He added: "If they hadn't survived, it would have really changed my life. But they survived. So it changed my outlook on life.".
Dennis Quaid and Zoe Grace Quaid at the premiere of "Reagan" on August 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. Photo: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
At a press conference in February 2008 dedicated to his film «"Point of View"» , Quaid opened up about becoming a father again, admitting that fatherhood was "a lot easier" for him the second time around.
The father of three explained, "I mean, when you have your first child, you're worried about everything. And then when you have your second child, you realize, 'Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's okay, I've seen this before, I've done this before.'".
«"You're a little more relaxed about it. But with two players, you need an extra hand," he added.
The actor is quite secretive about his family life, especially when it comes to his two youngest children, and rarely speaks about them publicly.
However, in August 2024, Zoe joined her father on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of the film Reagan, in which he played the lead role.
The twins are preparing for adulthood. According to Zoe's Instagram, she appears to have graduated high school at the end of May 2026. According to their social media accounts, Zoe plans to attend the University of Virginia, and Thomas will attend the University of Colorado at Boulder after graduation.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, on May 20, the actor, known for the film "War Machine", filed a motion to end Buffington's $13,750 monthly child support payments to support the twins after they graduated from high school.
Quaid cited terms of the divorce agreement he and his ex-wife reached in 2018, which stated that payments could cease "when the child completes 12th grade (if under 19 and attending high school full-time) or reaches other specified endpoints, whichever occurs first.".
Quaid, who is required to pay Buffington an additional amount annually if his income exceeds $1,314,000, also asked that the potential bonus amount, determined after evaluating his annual income, be "prorated based on each child's graduation date, rather than based on Dennis's income for the entire year 2026.".
Read the original article on People.