In the new family comedy "Yours, Mine & Ours," Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo play former high school sweethearts who each have a deceased spouse.
Once Frank Beardsley and Helen North decide to rekindle their romance at a reunion they each reveal some surprising family news: he has eight children and she has 10.
Then, on a whim, they get married without telling the kids.
"That's kind of cruel, wasn't it?" Quaid says on The Early Show. "I am an admiral in the coast guard and uptight, by-the-book guy. She's a free-to-be-you-and-me type of mom of 10, sort of like the red states and the blue states."
They merge under one roof and, just like the parents, the Beardsley children are disciplined while the North kids are unruly, which creates a culture clash.
So what was it like to be on a set where all 18 kids have stand-ins? "Like being the director of a rehab clinic, keeping all the inmates in line," Quaid says with a smile. "We were a Ritalin-free set. Focus was a big word on our set."
You will find lots of physical comedy in the film, something Quaid says he had not done a lot of in the past.
"Probably not since 'Cave Man.' That was a while back. I kind of took my cues from the Warner Brothers cartoons I grew up with."
In real life, Quaid says he does not share the admiral's parenting style. "I am a little bit of the fun dad. I think. I hope."
Career wise, Quaid recently received his star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"Right between Meryl Streep and Woody Woodpecker," he says. "First night I was in Los Angeles, way back in the 1880s, I walked down Hollywood Boulevard and said to myself, who the heck are those people down there? And now they can say the same thing about me."
Some Facts About Dennis Quaid:
Dennis William Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, on April 9, 1954. Dennis Quaid's brother is actor/director Randy Quaid. Quaid attended University of Houston in Texas, but he dropped out to pursue acting.Quaid's former wife is actress Meg Ryan.In 1977, Quaid performed in his first feature role as one of a group of friends helping Richard Thomas cope with the death of his idol James Dean in "9/30/55."In 1979, Quaid gained Hollywood's attention for his role in "Breaking Away." In 1980, Dennis Quaid teamed with his brother Randy to play the outlaw Miller brothers in Walter Hill's Western "The Long Riders." In 1983, Quaid played astronaut Gordon Cooper in "The Right Stuff." In 1987, the actor played a Louisiana detective in "The Big Easy"; he also starred in the sci-fi comedy "Innerspace." In 1989, Quaid played singer Jerry Lee Lewis in the biopic "Great Balls of Fire."In 1993, Quaid had many roles in features such as "Wilder Napalm," "Thin Man," "Undercover Blues," "Flesh and Bone" and "Wyatt Earp."In 1995, Quaid co-starred with Julia Roberts in "Something to Talk About." In 1996, the actor played a medieval knight in "Dragonheart."In 1998, Quaid co-starred with Natasha Richardson in the remake of Disney's "The Parent Trap."In 1999, he played an aging quarterback in the Oliver Stone-directed "Any Given Sunday." In 2000, Quaid played a firefighter who is able to communicate across time with his grown son (James Caviezel) in the fantasy "Frequency"; also, in the same year, the actor was cast as a slippery lawyer advising the wife of a drug lord in "Traffic."In 2002, Quaid starred in the surprise hit "The Rookie," which was based on a true story of a middle-aged high school baseball coach who tries out for the Major Leagues and becomes the league's oldest rookie. He next appeared in the intense drama "Far From Heaven" — he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.In 2003, Quaid was teamed with Sharon Stone in Mike Figgis' sly but commercially lackluster take on the haunted house thriller in "Cold Creek Manor."In 2004, Quaid married Texas real estate agent Kimberly Buffington. He also played Sam Houston in "The Alamo," and starred in "The Day After Tomorrow," "Flight of the Phoenix" and "In Good Company."In November 2005, he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Quaid's next projects are Paul Weitz's satire "American Dreamz" and Quaid's first theatrical feature as a writer-director, "Shame on You."