Dennis Quaid Once Struggled With Addiction. Here's How He Overcame It

In the '80s, prolific actor Dennis Quaid was dealing with the pain of cocaine addiction, finding himself stuck in a cycle of self-destruction. In 1990, Quaid found God, which gave him the courage to get sober. 

After finding great success in the acting world by starring in movies like "The Right Stuff" and "Great Balls of Fire," Quaid seemed to have his life and career on track. However, he's since revealed that being sober was a rare moment for him in the '80s. While a guest on "Megyn Kelly Today" in 2018, he opened up about when his life was at rock bottom, even though in the eyes of the public, it seemed like the opposite was true. 

He also stated that it wasn't out of the ordinary to use cocaine occasionally in the '60s and '70s, so to Quaid, it wasn't clear that he even had a problem. "I was basically doing cocaine pretty much on a daily basis during the '80s. I spent many, many a night screaming at God to 'Please take this away from me and I'll never do it again, 'cause I've only got an hour before I have to be at work,'" he recalled to Kelly. "Then at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I'd go, 'Oh it's not so bad.'" Thankfully, Quaid, who has been married to public accountant Laura Savoie since 2020, seems to be much more confident since getting sober.

In 2023, Dennis Quaid had an exclusive sit-down with People in which he opened up about his Christian faith being a major help in his getting sober. In 1990, he began treatment at a rehabilitation center. "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," he said regarding the moment he realized he needed help changing his life around. 

While speaking with the Christian Post in 2024, the star disclosed how he was initially turned off by the Bible, deeming the First Testament to be too grim. "The subject matter turned me off," he told the outlet. "There were probably some other things, too. I started asking questions that didn't have answers... I started to question my faith." However, while getting sober, the actor returned to Christianity. 

The "Parent Trap" actor continued to discuss how believing in religion helped him get himself back on track to living the life he knew he deserved. "I went back, and I read the Bible again, cover to cover, and what really struck being that this time were the red words of Jesus and who He really was," Quaid told the Christian Post. "That was the beginning of my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that's really what it's all about. From there, it's grown, and it does fill up that hole inside me..."