Dennis Quaid leaned on relationship with God for help with addiction after 'white light experience'

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Dennis Quaid is "grateful to be alive" after battling addiction.

Quaid, who struggled with substance abuse after a successful career start, opened up about going to rehab – "cocaine school" – and the "white light experience" that helped him make a change in his life.

"I'm grateful to still be here, I'm grateful to be alive really every day," Quaid told People magazine in a recent interview. "It's important to really enjoy your ride in life as much as you can, because there's a lot of challenges and stuff to knock it down."

Quaid checked into rehab after gaining fame in "The Right Stuff," "Breaking Away" and "Great Balls of Fire!."

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Dennis Quaid opened up about battling his addiction in a new interview. (Getty Images)

"I remember going home and having kind of a white light experience that I saw myself either dead or in jail or losing everything I had, and I didn't want that," the actor and musician explained to the outlet.

For Quaid, his faith really helped play a part in his recovery. The actor began rereading the Bible and other religious texts in 1990 as he made his way back to sobriety, according to People.

"That's when I started developing a personal relationship," Quaid noted. "Before that, I didn't have one, even though I grew up as a Christian."

The actor also wrote the song, "On My Way to Heaven," to show his mother that he was back on track and doing okay. Twenty-three years later, Quaid is releasing a new album, "Fallen: A Gospel Record For Sinners."

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Dennis Quaid is known for roles in "The Parent Trap," "Great Balls of Fire!" and "Far From Heaven." (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)

While reflecting on how his addiction shaped him as a person, Quaid noted that sobriety was getting back to "the joy of life."

"It's a struggle," Quaid said of his addiction recovery. "We're all looking for the joy of life, and drugs give that to you and alcohol and whatever it is for anybody give that to you really quick. Then they're fun, and then they're fun with problems, and then they're just problems after a while."

"That's really what we're looking for, the joy of life, which is our gift, actually, the relationship with God that we all have. It's at the bottom of it, the joy of being alive."

Quaid is currently married to wife Laura Savoie and is the "happiest [he's] ever been." He is the father to three children; Jack, Thomas and Zoe.

Dennis Quaid married Laura Savoie, 30, in 2020. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images for CMT)

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