Soul Surfer star Dennis Quaid recently wrote an article for Newsweek. The actor was very candid about his past cocaine use and how it affected his life.
He categorized his previous cocaine use as the “biggest mistake” of his life. Quaid moved from Houston to L.A. in 1974 and joined the party scene.
Quaid talked about how it started: “It was very casual at first. That’s what people were doing when they were at parties. Cocaine was even in the budgets for movies, thinly disguised. It was petty cash, you know? It was supplied on movie sets because everyone was doing it.”
When it came to signing deals, Dennis said instead of having a drink, you’d have a line. He admits it was a contributing factor to his inability to handle the fame that was coming his way.
He got into a viscous cycle: “I’d wake up, snort a line, and swear I wasn’t going to do it again that day. But when 4 o’clock rolled around, I’d be right back down the same road like a little squirrel on one of those treadmills.”
In his early days he was in a band called the Eclectics and it was during that time that he realized it was time for a change. After a “crazy” show, he had a revelation: “I had one of those white-light experiences that night where I kind of realized I was going to be dead in five years if I didn’t change my ways. The next day I was in rehab.”
His 80’s were fueled by drugs, and the 90’s were his recovering years… when he was finally chiseled into a person: “It gave me the resolve and a resilience to presevere in life. If I hadn’t gone through that period, I don’t know if I’d still be acting. In the end, it taught me humility. I really learned to appreciate what I have in this life.”
Quaid marriage P.J. Soles in 1978 but the union ended five years later. He went on to wed actress Meg Ryan in 1991. Their ten year union produced a son Jack.
Dennis married his current wife Kimberly Buffington in 2004. They have twins, a son Thomas and daughter Zoe.
Photo Credit: Nicki Nelson / WENN