Video:Dennis Quaid Interview - ShoWest Male Star of the Year
with Rebecca MurrayDennis Quaid stars in Paramount Pictures' 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra' and has a movie about Bill Clinton and Tony Blair in the works. Those films, plus his years of work in previous movies, earned him the Male Star of the Year award at ShoWest.
Transcript:Dennis Quaid Interview - ShoWest Male Star of the Year
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at 2009 ShoWest.
Dennis Quaid – Male Actor of the Year Award Winner
It seems like it was just yesterday you were in The Right Stuff. What keeps you going?Dennis Quaid: "To tell you the truth I'm having more fun now than I did in my 20s and my 30s. I love acting and I love creating characters, and I love being in films and making films and the people who make films. And it's so much better than working for a living. It's fantastic. I'm the luckiest guy in the world and I'm still here."
You're set to star in The Special Relationship as Bill Clinton. What do you like best about the role and what can you say about the movie?
Dennis Quaid: "Mostly the burgers. I've gained seven pounds in fact since I got this role. I'm looking forward to it. For one thing, doing something with Peter Morgan – I was a great fan of The Queen as well as Frost/Nixon I thought was unbelievable. His writing is something that any actor dreams of doing. I jumped at the chance. In fact, campaigned in a way to do it."
Do you think you've earned the Male Star of the Year award?
Dennis Quaid: "Absolutely. Long time coming in fact. You know, I'm happy to be here. It's nice. It really is. It's usually something I think that most people get in their 20s or 30s. I'm glad to do it."
Who was your favorite character to play?
Dennis Quaid: "Absolutely the most fun, joyous character I ever had was Gordo Cooper in The Right Stuff because when I was a little kid at the age of six, I grew up in Houston and the astronauts – you know, Houston was Space City and I wanted to be a space cowboy right there, and Gordo Cooper was my favorite astronaut. He was the youngest. And then when the book came out I read it and said, 'Oh my god, if I could play this part…' They weren't even making a movie yet. And then a year later, they made a movie and I couldn't believe I got it. And then I met him. He lived three miles from my house. I became great friends with him. I learned to fly. I got my pilot's license, and I got to go in all those doors that say authorized personnel only at NASA. And I came this close to getting on the shuttle but it didn't work out. But it was really a lot of fun, really fun."