Dennis Quaid Shares How Faith Helped Him Overcome Addiction

Dennis Quaid says he’s now “the happiest I’ve ever been,” but he’s had a long struggle to get there. The 69-year-old actor opens up about his faith journey after struggling with cocaine addiction in a new interview with People.

The actor and musician admits he was battling addiction throughout the ’80s as he established himself as a movie star in films including The Right Stuff, Suspect, The Big Easy, D.O.A. and more. He entered rehab — or, as he calls it, “cocaine school” — in 1990 after a startling realization about where he was headed.

“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,” Quaid tells People.

The actor says addicts are trying “to fill a hole inside us,” adding, “When you’re done with the addiction, you need something to fill that hole, something that really works, right?”

After rehab, Quaid began to return to his Christian roots.

“That’s when I started developing a personal relationship,” he shares. “Before that, I didn’t have one, even though I grew up as a Christian.”

Quaid’s faith inspired his new album, Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners, which dropped on July 28. He says his faith has helped lift his life into the best place he’s ever been.

“I’m grateful to still be here, I’m grateful to be alive really every day,” he reflects. “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.”