Right before he was due to begin shooting on his first professional movie set—2012’s “The Hunger Games,” no less—Jack Quaid (son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid) inflicted his own bloody nose while training with a weighted ball. “I showed up the first day with a swollen nose. It was very embarrassing,” he recalls. While Quaid’s pre-shoot luck has changed since then, he brings a similarly affable charm to this summer’s indie romantic comedy “Plus One,” starring Maya Erskine. And in the world of Amazon Prime’s newest superhero series, “The Boys,” (debuting July 26), which stars Quaid as Hughie Campbell, there’s still blood, sweat, and tears to go around.
How did you first get your SAG card?
I had done a couple of short films when I was a teenager; you couldn’t do more without getting your SAG card. The one that made me get my SAG card was “The Hunger Games,” weirdly enough. I did that when I was 19. I never expected that to be my first movie. I expected to be the best friend in a rom-com, but instead I was a child murderer in a dystopian future in a franchise that people knew about from the books alone. That was so incredibly fun to do, because it was a lot of kids in North Carolina who were around the same age. It felt like summer camp. It didn’t dawn on me that it was as huge as it was until I got to the premiere.
Was that the first professional set you were on? What was it like?
It’s very nerve-wracking. Just the fact that it was my first set was nerve-wracking. I remember they had me working out for [the film], they had all of us with trainers—don’t know why, because we’re wearing long, flowing robes the entire time. I had done this exercise [where you slam] a weighted ball against the floor, pick it up and slam it down again. My first time training on my own in North Carolina, I slammed the ball down and I didn’t realize it was a lower weight. It immediately ricocheted off the floor at immense speed and hit me in the nose. My nose was completely swollen, and I thought it was broken. It turns out it wasn’t, but blood was gushing out of my nose. I showed up the first day with a swollen nose. It was very embarrassing. It definitely heightened my nerves.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to get a role?
I’ve gone over the top, but it didn’t pay off. I had an audition for “Ready Player One.” In the game that you’re in [in the film], you can look like anything that you want. I chose to look like Marty McFly, so I bought the red life preserver vest and the jean jacket. It was lost on everybody in the room. I don’t know why I went to that extent, but I did. I don’t think anybody got it! [Now] I have this Marty McFly outfit, and that can come in handy, I guess.
What is your worst audition horror story?
I’ve had some awkward experiences. If there’s a big, effects-heavy scene in an audition—‘Oh, there’s an earthquake happening!’—it’s always weird to simulate that in the room because, eventually, special effects will take care of it. I don’t know why I’m doing this scene in an audition room in Burbank. I think [for] most of them, I’ve been nervous. I auditioned for “Vinyl,” which I wound up getting, but I had to be in front of Martin Scorsese. I don’t think I’ve sweated more visibly in an audition than I did that day.
How do you typically prepare for an audition?
I learned so much from Ted Zurkowski, who was a teacher at NYU. He taught us something that I still adhere to, which is to be as off-book as you can before you go into an audition. Looking at the sides and holding the sides is so distracting for me. I try to know the lines the best I can, even if the role isn’t mine yet. I’ve got to know what I’m saying. And I get self-conscious about how I hold paper—a thought you never think you’ll have. Get the paper out of here!
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What performance should every actor see and why?
You know what was a really big influence on me? I saw “A Fish Called Wanda” when I was pretty young, and Kevin Kline in that movie is so funny and sympathetic, but you also hate him. That’s a great performance I would recommend any young actor go look at.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would probably say to him, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Things will be OK. You can pick and choose what you worry about; you don’t have to worry about every little thing.
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