Dennis Quaid says Hollywood is in the midst of a ‘spiritual awakening’
Movieguide® Contributor
Dennis Quaid says he’s been pleasantly surprised by how Hollywood has responded to his faith, calling it evidence of a “spiritual awakening.”
“I think there’s really a spiritual awakening happening in our country right now,” he said. “There’s been a lot of turmoil, but when you think about what it takes to get there, that’s what a spiritual awakening is. I think we’re really at the beginning of it.”
The actor now makes his faith a priority in his personal and professional life, having recently starred in several faith-based films including I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, SOUL SURFER, THE HILL and ON A WING AND A PRAYER.
Quaid was nominated for a Movie Guide® Grace Award® for his Most Inspiring Performance in I Can Only Imagine, won a Grace Award for his performance in On a Wing and a Prayer, and has received Teddy Bear Awards® for his film roles in Soul Surfer and The Parent Trap.
“I’m actually a little surprised by the success of I Can Only Imagine because it’s not a Hollywood movie,” Quaid explained. “Hollywood doesn’t understand its audience anymore. People want to go to the cinema and feel something, so you can’t ignore that spirit, and people are craving it, so these stories are really getting attention these days.”
Quaid’s upcoming project is the film “REAGEN,” set in America in the 1940s.Number These include “Happy Faces” about the American President and “Happy Faces,” a series based on the true story of a serial killer and his daughter.
“The thing about being an actor is understanding human beings, understanding what makes human beings tick. I don’t limit myself. I learn something about myself with every role I play,” Quaid told The Christian Post.
Quaid was raised in a Baptist church, but a bad experience with a Sunday school teacher led him to explore other religions.
“The subject just sickened me,” he said, “and maybe a few other reasons too. I started having unanswered questions. … I started questioning my faith.”
The Quaid read the Dhammapada, the Quran and the Bible.
“I was obsessed with the violence of the Old Testament. God seemed to me at the time like a punishing God. There were a lot of things I didn’t understand,” he said.
“As Quaid’s Hollywood career took off, he began turning to drugs to fill the void he felt inside, and he eventually became addicted to cocaine. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the Texas native decided to get sober and return to the beliefs of his childhood,” The Christian Post reported.
He read the Bible from cover to cover, and the words spoken by Jesus, highlighted in red, stayed with him.
“That was the beginning of my personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” he said, “and that’s what it’s all about. It just grew from there and filled a void in my heart. I’ve been there all this time. My mother taught me that, but we have to learn things for ourselves. It brought me right back to the beginning.”
Quaid has now read the Bible from cover to cover four times, and he believes that the Gospel of John conveys the heart of the Gospels in a deeper way than any other book of the Bible.
“I think John is connecting physics with the Holy Spirit and explaining it in a timeless way,” Quaid said. “He’s pointing out a greater truth that we can’t put into words.”
Quaid, a talented musician, performed at this year’s Movie Guide® At the Faith & Values Awards Gala, he recently released an album called “Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners.”
“I wanted the album to reflect me. I didn’t want it to be churchy or preachy or ‘everything is great,'” Quaid said. “I thought it would reach people who aren’t in that world, but also people who live in that world because we’re all sinners.”
“And it’s by the grace of God that we’re saved, it’s free, it’s redeemed. We don’t actually deserve it, but we get it by the grace of God anyway,” he continued. “And that’s what I want the songs to reflect. This record is really the story of my spiritual journey.”
Movieguide® reported on the album last year:
Dennis Quaid talks about the making of his new album, Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners, and why he prefers Nashville to Hollywood.
“A lot of people are shy about talking about their faith,” Quaid told Variety. “They think it’s like the Boy Scouts and you have to follow the rules. But I talk to God a lot, every day. I question everything I do. I believe faith is about working hard. It’s about self-reflection and letting go of your ego.”
Variety asked Quaid whether his younger self would have identified with the album’s gospel message.
“I don’t know if I can say anything to that Dennis. I’m just grateful that I went through those things and got through those periods. It shaped who I am today,” he said.
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