Dennis Quaid is “grateful” to still be alive following his past issues with addiction.
Speaking to People, the 69-year-old actor said he is “grateful to still be here … grateful to be alive, really.”
“It’s important to really enjoy your ride in life as much as you can, because there’s a lot of challenges and stuff to knock it down,” Quaid shared, noting he finally checked himself into rehab — which he dubbed “cocaine school” — to get help.
“I remember going home and having kind of a white light experience that I saw myself either dead or in jail or losing everything I had, and I didn’t want that. I was in a band, and we got a record gig… They broke up the night they got it, and they broke up because of me, because I was not reliable,” he explained.
Addiction forces people “to fill a hole inside us,” Quaid told the outlet, adding, “When you’re done with the addiction, you need something to fill that hole, something that really works, right?”
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“It’s a struggle,” The Rookie actor replied when asked how his past experience with addiction has affected his life.
“We’re all looking for the joy of life, and drugs give that to you and alcohol and whatever it is for anybody give that to you really quick. Then they’re fun and then they’re fun with problems, and then they’re just problems after a while. That’s really what we’re looking for, the joy of life, which is our gift, actually, the relationship with God that we all have. It’s at the bottom of it, the joy of being alive,” he continued.
The Parent Trap star credits his Christian faith for helping him through his addiction struggles.
Quaid tied the knot with Laura Savoie in 2020.
The actor has three kids: son Jack Quaid, 31 with ex Meg Ryan and twins Thomas and Zoe, 15, with ex Kimberly Buffington.