Dennis Quaid Talks Church Hurt and Rediscovering His Faith
By Movieguide® Contributor
Dennis Quaid shares how his roots in Jesus and the church brought him back from addiction and how that journey is reflected in his newest album.
“[My mom] was very much of the spirit. She was a Christian and she was raised like that. My grandfather, her father, he was a farmer and worked as a wildcat on the oil rigs and things like that, and he also was a tent preacher to make ends meet for a while and sold Bibles door-to-door,” Quaid said on Southern Living’s “Biscuits and Jam” podcast. “So we went to church quite a bit growing up.”
Despite his strong foundation, a bad experience left Quaid dissatisfied with the church, and he began to move away from Christianity.
“I became disillusioned with the church, actually, around that same time of about 12,” he explained. “I’d forgotten my offering for Sunday School. I really got ripped for that and, in my 12-year-old point of view of what hypocrisy was, church wasn’t supposed to make you feel bad.”
“I think I made it a lot bigger than it was, but anyway… I looked around the world, and what they were saying in church about it was either hell, fire and damnation or it was these pretty sayings that didn’t really apply to real life,” Quaid continued. “I think my parents were getting a divorce also around that time and, so I think that maybe, kind of, splintered things as well.”
Quaid’s disinterest in religion continued until he read a book that introduced him to Buddhism. He began to seek truth, reading the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, the Koran and the Bible.
While all of these thoughts about religion filled him a little, he still chased worldly things. He eventually got sucked into heavy drug usage.
“Into my mid-30s, you know, really have a bad thing goin’ on with cocaine, I think it had taken over me. And [I] had one of those white light experiences, and I checked myself into rehab, ‘cause I saw myself dead in five years or losing everything I had, or in jail,” the actor said.
“When you’re done with the addiction, you need something to fill that hole, something that really works, right?” the actor told PEOPLE.
“That’s when I went back and read the Bible again and this time I was very struck by the red words of Jesus, and from that, what started to happen was a personal relationship with Jesus and that’s really what it’s all about,” Quaid continued. “What he was saying was the good news, which was about heaven, but it was also about teaching us how to have heaven here on earth and to live that in our hearts.”
“Of course we’re not perfect and it doesn’t go on all the time, but it really finally clicked, and it wasn’t all at once, it’s just something that’s become more and more real as time has gone by,” he added.
His faith experience is captured in Quaid’s newest album “Fallen: A Gospel Record For Sinners.”
“I grew up at the Baptist church. I love the hymns that come from there. Then I’ve written some songs that are very much in the faith category,” he explained.
“We all have that duality inside us,” Quaid said. “We have that angel and devil sitting on each shoulder, and I just wanted to reflect that.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Dennis Quaid is opening up about the process of making his new album “Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners” and why he prefers Nashville over Hollywood.
“A lot of people are embarrassed to talk about their faith,” Quaid told Variety. “They think it’s some kind of Boy Scout thing, where you’ve got to follow the rules. But I talk to God a lot, every day. I question everything I do. I believe it’s about keeping trying. It’s about self-examination and throwing your ego out the door.”
“Fallen” was a collaboration between Quaid and two producers — gospel music star Ben Isaacs and country legend David “Fergie” Ferguson.
“With two different producers, it reflects me in the sound. Half Baptist churcher, half country rock,” the actor explained. “Ben is part of the Isaacs, which is a Christian group. He knows bluegrass, and he knows the Gaither Christian audience. These traditional Christian songs, which were part of my Baptist upbringing in Texas, are very important to me. I knew how I wanted it to sound.”
