Actor Dennis Quaid Opens Up to Al Roker About the Joys of Turning 70: ‘I’m Not Reaching for Anything as I Was in My 20s’

Dennis Quaid is one of Hollywood’s great actors — from Innerspace (1987) to The Parent Trap (1998) and the forthcoming Reagan (2024), he’s been a beloved star for decades. Quaid, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday, sat down with TODAY ’s Al Roker and opened up on what it’s been like to begin this new chapter in his life.

Dennis Quaid and Al Roker on being older than their fathers were

Quaid, who turned 70 in April, explained that while he’s in a happy and healthy place as he enters his 70s, it’s also a weird feeling. The actor noted that his father, William R. “Buddy” Quaid, passed away seven years ago and that it’s strange to be older than he ever was.

“ My dad died at 63 , so I didn’t have an example of it [turning 70],” Quaid explained to Roker. “I turned 63 and I woke up in the middle of the night, about six months after and it just hit me. So I counted the days from my dad’s birthday to the time he died and [I counted the days] from my birthday to when I woke up, and it was the same number of days. In that night, I was older than my dad had been.”

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Quaid wasn’t sure Roker would understand the feeling he was trying to convey, but it was obvious that he did.

“My dad died at 69 and I always felt bad he didn’t make 70,” Roker shared with Quaid. “It’s a very strange feeling to get past the point your father did.”

Shifting subjects, Quaid admitted that he couldn’t really appreciate fame at the height of his career, the actor having gotten his start in the entertainment industry in the mid-1970s, though it wasn’t until his 1979 role in Breaking Away that he rose to stardom.

“I was so in the middle of it and on my way to somewhere that it was really hard to appreciate,” he shared. “If anything I would have told myself back then, ‘Hey, take it easy.’”

Quaid also opened up about his struggle with addiction and cocaine, explaining he used it as a way to fill a hole inside of himself.

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But as he approaches this new decade, Quaid is looking ahead and appreciating some of the finer things. “This part of life, I’m not reaching for anything as I was in, say, my 20s and 30s.”

While the actor is still focusing on his film and TV career, he also released an album, titled Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners , in 2023.

Dennis Quaid offers advice about turning 70

Although Quaid has only been a part of the 70s club for a few months, he does have some advice to offer to others in his shoes, as well as anyone struggling with getting older.

“ It’s important when you reach every decade , you have to make goals for yourself,” Quaid pointed out to Roker. “Just, you know, ‘let this go’ and ‘let that go,’ because there’s nothing to be done about it.”

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The actor is taking a casual approach to entering this new decade and feels others should do the same. Entering a new era can be scary for everyone, but Quaid isn’t afraid.

And for those who are nearing their 70s or have already joined him, like Al Roker, Quaid had a few words of wisdom to offer.

“Welcome, and strap in and step it up… it’s the new boot camp,” he laughed.

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