Dennis Quaid is a talented actor with a career spanning over many decades, but the Hollywood lifestyle didn’t come without consequences or obstacles for the star.
Born in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, Dennis Quaid was a 21-year-old drama student at the University of Houston when he decided to leave his hometown in pursuit of an acting career. Following in the footsteps of his older brother Randy Quaid, the two packed up their things in the mid-1970s and headed for Hollywood.
His breakthrough roles in Breaking Away and The Right Stuff made him a hot commodity in the 80s, and led to more major studio films like Innerspace, Suspect and Great Balls of Fire!. But what should’ve been the happiest time in any actor’s life was plagued with a cocaine addiction Quaid had quietly but quickly slipped into.
In a 2002 interview with The New York Times, Quaid admitted it was during this addiction that he lost God: ‘Mostly, I was mad at God, you know? Why was I in this predicament? I knew it was all my own fault, but at the same time, I wasn’t thinking straight. I was caught in a place, living a life that I didn’t want to live but couldn’t escape.’
The actor, who was formerly married to Meg Ryan, says it was the birth of their son Jack that made him realize he had to get a handle on his addiction. ‘I got into rehab, and I got over it,’ Quaid told The Times. ‘I took a year off to get my life back together. And when it came time to find a movie, it took me another year to find one.’ Quaid admitted that in leaving for rehab he also left his success with him. When he came back to acting he realized he had fallen off the map and was forced to start over.
Since then, Quaid has won his acting career back. But, there was still something that he wasn’t able to fully repair; his relationship with God. ‘I grew up in a Baptist church, went to Sunday school, and then I got baptized when I was nine and made the decision the same day as my brother. My brother and I, Randy, were both baptized on the same day.’
Quaid had been curious about his faith for a long time. ‘The question I had as I went around the world was ‘Who is God?’ I became a seeker really… I read the Bible cover to cover. For me, it’s Jesus… it’s the red words of Jesus,’ shared Quaid in a behind-the-scenes interview. During that time, Quaid began writing a song for his mother called On My Way To Heaven, but was never able to complete it. Now, 25 years later, Quaid’s role in the upcoming film I Can Only Imagine made him realize it was his wavering faith holding him back. Through his character Arther, Quaid says he was able to finish the song and find God, and his faith, again.
Watch the video down below for the full interview and hear some of Dennis Quaid’s song, On My Way To Heaven. Click ‘NEXT POST’ for more stories like this one and don’t forget to ‘SHARE’ on Facebook!
