Dennis Quaid, 65, Defends His 26-Year-Old Fiancée
Dennis Quaid isn’t bothered by his nearly 40-year age gap with his fiancée.
The 65-year-old actor addressed his relationship with Laura Savoie, a 26-year-old PhD student, in an interview with The Guardian published Monday following their engagement.
“That was really a laugh,” Quaid said of public reaction. “I thought it was wonderful, actually.”
“Everyone comes from the perspective of their own life and so I can’t comment on the way they feel; I can’t even get angry,” he added.
Quaid was previously married to Kimberly Quaid and actresses Meg Ryan and P.J. Soles. He said he’s found “a real partner” in Savoie, despite their age difference.
“I didn’t go out looking for an age gap or someone really younger than me,” Quaid said. “I met her at a business event and then the relationship developed. You have no control over who you fall in love with. I don’t fall in love easily. But I can’t let what a few people think control all that.”
“I’ve been married three times and this is the final one, I know it is. I feel like I have a real partner in life,” he added.
Quaid and Savoie were first linked in June. Quaid announced his engagement to Savoie in October.
“She’s a beautiful, beautiful woman. She’s an incredible person,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “I’m really as happy as I can be.”
Elaine Hendrix, who co-starred with Quaid in The Parent Trap (1998), teased Quaid on Twitter following news of his engagement. In the film, Quaid’s character, Nick Parker, gets engaged to a 26-year-old woman (Hendrix), whom his 11-year-old twin daughters (Lindsay Lohan) do not approve of.
“Watch out for those twins,” Hendrix wrote.
Quaid has a 27-year-old son, Jack, with Ryan, and 12-year-old twins, son Thomas and daughter Zoe, with Kimberly Quaid.
Quaid will star in the new Netflix series Merry Happy Whatever, which premieres Thursday.