Dennis Quaid reveals cocaine use as ‘part of movie budgets’
Quaid notes that addiction to cocaine was his ‘greatest mistake’
Actor Dennis Quaid has revealed that he got addicted to cocaine use during his early career in Hollywood, admitting that being addicted to cocaine was his ‘greatest mistake’.
In an interview with Newsweek, the “Soul Surfer” star noted that cocaine was even ‘part of movie budgets’.
He recounted during the interview that he began using the drug ‘casually at first’ said Fox News. Little did the actor know that he was already ‘falling deeper into a downward spiral’, blaming the drug’s availability and accessibility in the World of Stars.
Dennis Quaid that having ‘a line’ (referring to the white powder being used) is as common as taking coffee during breaks in movie sets during filming - - a revelation that is an open knowledge in Hollywood but for someone like Quaid to confirm it is a development yet uncovered.
Quaid said: “Cocaine was even in the budgets of movies, thinly disguised.”
“It was petty cash, you know. It was supplied, basically, on movie sets because everyone was doing it. People would make deals. Instead of having a cocktail, you’d have a line,” Quaid was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Quaid underscored that things got out of control while filming “The Big Easy” in the late 1980s, said Fox News.
“I was a mess. I was getting an hour of sleep a night. I had a reputation for being a ‘bad boy,’ which seemed like good thing, but basically I just had my head stuck up my ass. I’d wake up, snort a line, and swear I wasn’t going to do it again that day,” Quaid recalled.
But the actor emphasized that things were easier planned than done.
He continued, “But then 4 o’clock rolled around, and I’d be right back down the same road like a little squirrel on one of those treadmills.”
Meg Ryan’s ex-husband said that he was forced to seek help when he experienced what Fox News described as ‘white light experiences”.
The move, Quaid told Newsweek, had given him more pain than ease in the beginning.
He said: “That time in my life – those years in the ‘90s recovering – actually chiseled me into a person. It gave me the resolve and a resilience to persevere in life. In the end, it taught me humility.”
Dennis Quaid has appeared in a number of films since he began in the 1980s but he was is best known for his works in “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004); “Vantage Point” (2008); "Frequency" (2000); and "Pandorum" (2009).
He stars as Tom Hamilton in the 2011 film, “Soul Surfer” released in the US on April 8.
More from Entertainment & Stars:
Newsletter: To receive update right in your inbox, sign up here