Dennis Quaid, 72, Reflects on Why This Is the Best Period of His Life: ‘The Joy of Being Alive’ (Exclusive)

Dennis Quaid, 72, Reflects on Why This Is the Best Period of His Life: ‘The Joy of Being Alive’ (Exclusive) https://ift.tt/YP2wBK0

The actor previously told PEOPLE that he’s having more fun in his career

Dennis Quaid attends the ‘Water Wars’ premiere on Sept. 2, 2026 in Nashville.
Credit: Danielle Del Valle/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Dennis Quaid tells PEOPLE about the current period in his life while at a screening of Water Wars
• “Happiness is all around you right now,” he says
• Quaid narrates the new documentary about a legal war over water rights in West Texas

Dennis Quaid is enjoying life!

The 72-year-old actor tells PEOPLE how he’s enjoying the current period of his life while at a screening of Water Wars in Nashville on Wednesday, Sept. 2. 

Reflecting on what he’s learned over the years, he says, “Happiness is all around you right now.” 

Quaid paraphrases a religious text, saying, “The kingdom of God is spread out upon the earth, and man does not see it.”

He adds, “It’s absolutely true. All you gotta do is just stop and look around. I call it the joy of being alive.”

Dennis Quaid attends the ‘Water Wars’ premiere on Sept. 2, 2026 in Nashville.
Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty

The actor previously told PEOPLE that he’s having more fun in his career.

“I have more enthusiasm for what I do now than I did back in my 20s. Because I felt like I was always trying to get somewhere back then in life,” he said. 

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Back when Quaid turned 70 in April 2024, he told PEOPLE that his wife Laura Savoie surprised him with a sweet video from his loved ones. He had told her he didn’t want a party as he thought he’d be working.

“She gave me a great party a couple of years ago in Nashville. So I told her I didn’t want a party,” he recalled at the time.

The actor added, “And so I wanted to be kind of low-key. But she got a whole bunch of my friends to do videos of, you know, talking about me. And it was really wonderful. You know that scene in Huckleberry Finn, where they go back and they’re at their own funeral? That’s what it was like, and it was really kind of nice and sweet.”

Quaid narrates the new documentary Water Wars, which dives into a legal war over water rights in West Texas.

“Nestled in the ‘Valley of Hidden Waters’ within the West Texas desert, Dell City thrives as a remote oasis. But, turmoil strikes as El Paso offers lucrative water deals to neighboring landowners. Dell City’s close-knit community faces division due to new water board rules, alleged to be influenced by billionaires, locking them out of these opportunities,” the synopsis teases. 

“Dell City’s ranchers embark on a legal battle against the influential water board, ultimately reaching the Texas Supreme Court,” it continues.

Dennis Quaid in 1981.
Credit: CBS via Getty

The Texas native told PEOPLE in an interview last month that his own experience living on a Montana ranch gave him a firsthand understanding of the value of water in rural communities.

“Where I lived used to be part of Yellowstone Park in the 1890s. Then they opened that up to ranch land. And when they did, of course, the first thing, the most valuable thing, to acquire is water rights for it,” he said. 

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Quaid will next star in the action thriller The Florist and the television show Thunder Road.

Water Wars premieres on Prime Video on Sept. 4.