From Seeker to Finder: Dennis Quaid’s Spiritual Journey

Published: February 26, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

Dennis Quaid spent his early life doubting God and looking for answers; when he finally found them, it changed his life.

“That’s really what I was. I was a seeker…,” Quaid told Pastor Greg Laurie of the time he spent exploring religion in the ’80s and ’90s. “I went to India 11 times in nine years.”

He would go and meditate and spend his time in ashrams.

“I would go there like seeking God, did these aesthetics…I read the Quran, the Dhammapada, the Bhagavad Gita…all of that,” the actor recalled.

But he still felt a hole in his life. He tried to fill it with other things, like cocaine.

“I still considered myself a Christian. In fact, I called myself a Zen Baptist for a very for quite a while,” the I CAN ONLY IMAGINE star explained. “But I, you know, I got into the world, basically.”

But Quaid found the world only offered him “quick fixes.”

“That wound up on a on a heap, you know. I was headed towards death,” he continued. “It’s going to lead you to death and you never really lived because it leaves a hole there that you never really filled.”

Once he realized that, Quaid read the Bible again.

“It was the red words of Jesus that really struck me…The thing was, it was personal. It was actually God’s really speaking to me,” he said.

No other religion offers a personal relationship like Christianity does.

“That is a living personal relationship that is happening right now. And all you have to do is take off your blinders,” he said.

Quaid told CBN, “That relationship has continued to grow and mature and get deeper. And it’s a continuing journey, but that’s where I’m at.”

A story that resonates with him is the parable of the prodigal son.

“No matter what, the door is always open to the Lord,” Quaid said of what the parable teaches. “All one has to do is open one’s heart and ask, and He’ll be there. It’s certainly been a comfort in my life.”

Since he’s returned to the faith, Quaid has made it a priority to participate in faith-based story-telling. His most recent project is I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2. In it, he plays the role of MercyMe’s Bart Millard’s father, Arthur.

Part of Movieguide®’s review of the movie reads, “I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2 is a beautiful, powerful, wonderfully acted movie of faith and family…It continues the original movie’s emotional, uplifting, redemptive Christian themes and values.”

It’s available to see in theaters now.

Questions or comments? Please write to us here.