I grew up in Houston, and I remember we had separate drinking fountains, and black people sat in the balcony of the theater... We had an African-American housekeeper growing up who was really like my second mother. I thought it was silly - hatred just because of the color of somebody's skin.
— Dennis Quaid
Golf is meaningless, but it means so much.
I found golf late in life, in 1990. I took some lessons and struggled. Then one day, I hit a drive that was so crisp and clean, with no vibration. There's no feeling like it. I was hooked.
I would like my kids to follow their bliss.
I'm an idol of cinema? Oh, wow.
I went out for the football team but, you know, I was too small. That's how I wound up in drama.
Before I was an actor, I was never able to hold a job for more than 3 months for some reason. It just wouldn't hold my interest, so there was some way that I wound up quitting or getting fired from it. But being an actor is perfect, because movies usually take about three months to shoot. Then it's over and they say, 'Hey, great job!'
I try to be eclectic in my choice of films. If I've done anything that's intentional in my career, it's to try to do as many different types of characters and as many different types of genres of movies that I can.
I love being a dad, and I'm good at it. Kids teach you about life, like how not to focus on yourself so much.
Certainly I'm a Christian first and foremost. But I do believe in religious tolerance and finding the commonality between all of us. I think that's how we're all going to come together.
If you're going to stick around in this business, you have to have the ability to reinvent yourself, whether consciously or unconsciously.
There's no way that I could do a 9 to 5 job. There's no way. I was not cut out for that. You come in and you work for three months on the one job. They say, 'Great,' you know, and you're on to the next one - and you never even got fired. It's wonderful.
I've done so many movies that when I see them I don't really watch them.
I love acting and making your own luck. You have to recreate yourself, I guess. Although, I don't know how.
I can't hit a ball more than 200 yards. I have no butt. You need a butt if you're going to hit a golf ball.
I used to eat a lot of fish, but I've been shying away from it because of the mercury thing. I eat more beef and chicken now.
I'd love to do a golf movie. I turned down Don Johnson's role in 'Tin Cup.' I regret that.
When I watch a movie that I've been in, I'm watching it, but I usually remember what I was doing at that time, what was going on in my life.
I didn't play football in school, but I've been a fan of football all my life. I have a fair understanding of it. Doing movies about it really helps because you know what makes them work and what doesn't.
I like acting and being a musician. It's like comparing apples and oranges. But I really like my day job. I've always played music since I was 12, and I guess I always will.
What they will do is, you know the tabloids. They'll take one element of a story that may be true and they'll build everything around it. Take a picture and invent a story around it.
I really love doing what I do, being an actor. It's the greatest. You can do it until you die.
I've never really sought out publicity.
I judge movies on how much fun I had while I was doing them. I had a great time on 'The Right Stuff.' Doing that was fantastic. And there was the year I did 'The Rookie' and 'Far From Heaven,' which was amazing because those two different roles were just so far apart.
I grew up Baptist and still go to church. I myself have explored other religions, because I want to know what it is that makes other people tick. I find we're all talking about the same thing, really - it's all God.
What, like I want to look like Dick Clark? No. I think I look great with liver spots.
That's what is great about what I do, going from one job to the other.
I was made to be a perfectionist at everything I did. Everything was more important than what I wanted.
I have a resistance to change in things that I feel comfortable with and that I'm used to.
Sometimes in movies, I still have to be the hero, but it's not all that important to me anymore.
I'm lucky. I have a high metabolism, so I pretty much eat anything and everything.
Surfing is like golf: You're always battling, and it keeps knocking you down. There are a lot of wipeouts. But when you stay with it and catch that wave, you really taste it. It's magic.
You go to Main Street, and Wal-Mart is coming to town and kicking out all the mom and pop stores. All the people that were in the mom and pop stores are now working for Wal-Mart.
Everybody just wants to be famous first, and then maybe learn how to act.
One thing I've really never had a problem with was memorizing lines. Most of the time I don't memorize the lines until we're on the set shooting the scene.
I've always considered myself a character actor. That's the way I was trained, really.
I always wanted to be an astronaut.
It's hard for two actors to be together. Take the traveling, for instance. It winds up being a long distance relationship, all the time, because one's working here and one's working there, or one's staying at home and one's off someplace else.
Jesus himself talked about prayer and meditation. Anything that brings you closer to the Lord, what's wrong with that?
God is the only way you're going to make it in life, the glue that holds everything together.
You don't have to be alone with your thoughts anymore. You don't have to process anything. You can call up someone to do something to instantly make you sort of feel better.
My interpretation of a strong director is someone who knows their story. That's what directors are, they're storytellers because they're directing where your focus is going to be as an audience.
I want to work with great people. Great people really make you better.
I could never hold a job for more than three months, which works out well because that's how long a movie shoots.
When you break up, your whole identity is shattered. It's like death.
