Actor Dennis Quaid revealed just how bad his past drug addiction really was in a new interview, Page Six is reporting. Earlier this year, Quaid admitted on The Megyn Kelly Show that he would do cocaine on a daily basis back in the 1980s. Now, the actor is going into more detail about how much he was actually using and even feeling close to death at points.
“I liked coke. I liked it to go out,” he said. “I had one of those white-light experiences where I saw myself being dead and losing everything I had worked for my whole life. So I put myself in rehab.”
Quaid said that after rehab, he was completely clean and sober for 10 years before slowly introducing alcohol back into his life. Quaid says alcohol was “never [his problem]” and he doesn’t even like the feeling of being drunk. He would use alcohol as a way to come down from cocaine highs that were too intense. While alcohol was not his drug of choice, it’s still an addictive substance, so it was important for Quaid to take time to reintroduce his body to alcohol. After 10 years had passed, Quaid felt like he was in a good enough place to imbibe again.
Now, Quaid’s party days appear to be over. He’s been laying low with his girlfriend, model Santa Auzina. This low-key lifestyle is probably an adjustment for Quaid, as his past relationships were highly publicized, particularly the one he had with Meg Ryan. The relationship was so high-profile that upon news of their divorce surfacing, he was contacted by then-President Bill Clinton to see if he was okay.
“When it was announced that Meg and I were getting a divorce, he called me from Air Force One,” Quaid said.”He was over the Atlantic right after Palestinian talks had collapsed. I don’t know how he found me, but he did. He just wanted to let me know he was thinking of me.”
After his divorce with Ryan was finalized in 2001, Quaid went on to marry Kimberly Buffington, who he had a set of twins with. According to another Page Six article, the two married in 2004 before Buffington filed for divorce in 2012. She withdrew her petition before re-filing in 2016. For now, Quaid doesn’t have any relationship troubles and appears to be staying out of public drama. He seems like a completely different person compared to when he “spent many, many a night screaming at God” due to his cocaine dependence.