Parent Trap ’s Dennis Quaid Reveals Where Nick Parker Is Today
Originally appeared on E! Online
In another life, Dennis Quaid is still soaking up the sun at Parker Knoll.
The Parent Trap alum reflected on his iconic role as vintner Nick Parker in the beloved 1998 film—which also starred Lindsay Lohan and the late Natasha Richardson—and teased where his character would be today.
"I guess he'd be sipping some of the wine out of his vineyard," Dennis exclusively told E! News' Francesca Amiker April 10, "not traveling too far from home."
The Yours, Mine & Ours star is also sure that Nick would still likely be horseback riding and running around the California property, adding, "No cane involved."
And as for whether Nick would still be ensnared in the parent trap itself?
"Yes, he's still with Elizabeth," Dennis added. "Natasha, God bless her. She passed from us about 10 years ago and she's so sorely missed. What a beautiful, beautiful woman, great person."
Natasha, who played Nick's ex and wedding gown designer Elizabeth James, tragically died in 2009, about 10 years after the iconic Disney film came out. But Dennis still keeps up with onscreen daughter Lindsay—who played both Hallie and Annie Parker in the remake.
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"She sent a video wishing me a happy birthday yesterday," the 70-year-old revealed, before marveling at their time working together. "She came to screen test and I think she was 11 and—wow—I couldn't believe it. She just had such control over her talent and what she was doing and during the shooting."
As he put it, "She had me believing there were two girls. She was completely fearless."
And while Dennis, who shares 31-year-old son Jack Quaid with ex-wife Meg Ryan as well as 16-year-old twins Thomas Boone and Zoe with ex Kimberly Buffington, is familiar with where Nick would be, he isn't as keen on returning to the iconic character.
On the topic of future homecomings, the Traffic actor hinted that he'd had his fill for now after a 2020 get together, "We had a reunion—during COVID in fact—we got together in a podcast."
Fans can, however, next catch Dennis in The Long Game, which hits theaters April 12.
"It's so uplifting," he added of the film, which details the true story of Mexican-American caddies who won the Texas state high school golf championship in 1957. "It reminds us of who we used to be as a country and how far we've come, and where we still need to go."
But if you're looking for a dose of nostalgia, read on to see what the Parent Trap cast is up to now.
Lindsay Lohan
After pulling double duty as twins Annie and Hallie in her first major role, Lohan went on to become one of the biggest and brightest young stars in Hollywood with Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, Just My Luck and A Prairie Home Companion.
After attempting to stage a comeback as Elizabeth Taylor in the 2012 Lifetime movie Liz & Dick and in 2013's The Canyons, Lohan left Hollywood behind and resettled in London before later moving to Dubai.
She then became an entrepreneur when she opened two nightclubs in Greece, ultimately staging another comeback with her own MTV reality show, Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club, which ran for just one season (following in the footsteps of her notoriously shortlived reality series Lindsay on Oprah Winfrey's OWN). She also served as a judge on Australia's version of The Masked Singer.
In April 2020, Lohan relaunched her music career, releasing the pop single "Back to Me," which came almost 16 years after the release of her debut album, Speak.
And in 2022, she dove back into acting with her role in Netflix's Falling For Christmas, which she followed up in 2024 with Irish Wish. And the Disney alum is giving fans what they want by revisiting her Freaky Friday role for an upcoming sequel with Jamie Lee Curtis.
Another major life win for Lindsay? She welcomed her first child, Luai, in July 2023 with husband Bader Shammas.
Dennis Quaid
He owned a vineyard. He was a devoted father. He crossed the pond to win back his ex. Yeah, Nick was a total dreamboat.
Quaid was already one of Hollywood's most in-demand leading men before The Parent Trap, and he continued to star in successful films, including Frequency, The Day After Tomorrow and Far From Heaven. Most recently, he starred in Amazon's Goliath and Netflix's sitcom Merry Happy Whatever. He also fronts the band, Dennis Quaid and The Sharks, which has been together since 2000.
Several years after the film's release, Quaid split from Meg Ryan after almost 10 years of marriage. They share one son, Jack. He would go onto marry real estate agent Kimberly Buffington in 2004, with the couple welcoming fraternal twins Thomas and Zoe in 2007. But after splitting twice in 2012 and reconciling in 2013, the pair called it quits for good in 2016, with their divorce being finalized in 2018.
After getting engaged in October 2019, Quaid married Laura Savoie in a secret elopement ceremony in June 2020 after initially postponing their April nuptials due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Following their engagement news, the actor defended his and Savoie's relationship and their 40-year age gap, insisting it "doesn't really bother" the couple.
And Dennis has consistently taken up small roles from The Long Game to a recurring role on the mini series Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
Elaine Hendrix
Get the picture?! Hendrix portrayed Meredith Blake, Nicky's young, hot and bitchy fiancée, which came after taking on the mean girl role in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion in 1997. What a legend!
Post-Parent Trap, Hendrix starred on FX's Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and appeared on 90210 and Anger Management. And in 2019, Hendrix stepped into the iconic stilettos of Alexis Carrington for The CW's Dynasty reboot.
A huge animal rights activist, Hendrix founded The Pet Matchmaker, an organization that rescues animals and tries to find homes for them.
Lisa Ann Walter
After playing Hallie's funny and caring nanny Chessy, Walter went on to star in movies like Bruce Almighty, Shall We Dance? and War of Worlds, and she's made guest appearance on Grey's Anatomy, GLOW, The Odd Couple and other TV shows.
The stand-up comedian's memoir, which had the iconic title The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me, came out in 2011, and from then until 2014 she hosted The Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show, her own talk radio show on KFI in LA.
Despite playing rivals in the film, Walter and Hendrix have remained close friends, with Walter telling Vanity Fair, "Elaine is family. She knows all my kids, and we don't need anybody else. We have each other. Elaine's my sister now; I adopted her."
And now, Lisa Ann is best known for her role as edgy teacher Melissa Schemmenti in the Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary.
Simon Kunz
After charming Chessy as Martin, Elizabeth and Annie's beloved butler, Kunz went on to star in hit UK series Midsomer Murders, Sherlock and The Last Kingdom. Kunz also had a small role in Captain America: The First Avenger.
More recently, he's had small roles in Jericho Ridge and Rose's War.
Polly Holliday
Holliday ran a tight ship at Camp Walden as Marva Sr., but the actress was known for her sassy turn on the hit '70s sitcom Alice.
After The Parent Trap, the legend appeared films such as Stick It and The Heartbreak Kid, as well as popped up on the small screen on Home Improvement and The Client.
In 2000, Holliday was inducted into the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame. She also holds four Emmy nominations.
Maggie Wheeler
C'mon, almost everyone knows Wheeler as Janice, her iconic character on Friends. (She originally auditioned for Monica!)
Wheeler, who played Marva Jr., the daughter in the mother-daughter duo who ran Camp Walden, has appeared on countless TV shows, including ER, Friday Night Lights and Shameless, and has provided her vocal talents to Archer, the animated Batman universe and 2019's The Addams Family.
She's has been married to Daniel Borden Wheeler since 1990 and the couple has two children together.
Nancy Meyers
One of Hollywood's most successful female filmmakers, Meyers is one of the reigning rom-com queens.
As a director, writer and producer, she went on to helm hit films like What Women Want, Something's Gotta Give, The Holiday, It's Complicated (which earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture: Musical or Comedy) and The Intern, inspiring home decor, lifestyle and love life envy in most of them. She also served as a producer on Home Again in 2017, which was written and directed by her daughter.
On Instagram, Meyers continuously shares behind-the-scenes tidbits from her hit films, and in February 2020, she penned a Modern Love essay about her post-divorce friendship with ex-husband Charles Shyer that went viral. In 2023, she was in the early stages of developing a rom com for Netflix, but the streamer ended up parting ways with the director before the project was completed.
Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Before she went on to follow in her famous mom's footsteps, writing and directing 2017's Home Again, a rom-com starring Reese Witherspoon, Meyers-Shyer often appeared in her mom Nancy Meyers' films, including What Women Want and Father of the Bride. In The Parent Trap, she played one of Annie's camp co-horts.
Fun fact: Her sister's name is Annie, and Lohan's twin characters were named after the siblings.
Kat Graham
Bet you didn't know The Vampire Diaries star had a small part in the movie, playing one of Annie's camp BFFs in her first major on-screen role. Graham later revealed to InStyle that she kept her camp shirt from filming.
Michael Lohan Jr.
That lost boy at camp who was actually the only boy at camp? He was played by Lohan's real-life little bro!
While he went on to appear on Living Lohan, a reality show that followed the famous fam, he's now a businessman after graduating from Ithaca College. In 2017, he married Nina Ginsberg.
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