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What sort of family films did you like when you were a child?

Quaid: There were lots. It's a Wonderful Life is a great family movie. I remember The Lindbergh Story, Follow Me Boys with Fred MacMurray, things like The Swiss Family Robinson.

And now that you have a son, what sort of movies do you watch with him?

Quaid: We have very eclectic tastes. My son and I really like comedies because we both like getting belly laughs together.

Does your son see your own films? Is there something you're holding back for now?

In 'The Rookie,' Quaid played a high school baseball coach

Quaid: Well yeah, like The Big Easy. (laughs) I'll let him discover 'em on his own, really. I don't sit him down to watch my movies or whatever. There was a time when Jaws 3-D was his favorite. And he really liked The Rookie a lot. The Day after Tomorrow, of course. [All three are Quaid movies.]

I don't think I've ever seen a film of yours in which you've been quite so slapstick-y.

Quaid: Yeah, probably not since Caveman, with Ringo Starr, have I done something with this kind of physical comedy in it. And I just loved doing it, I really did, despite the pain. (laughs) Because you start fooling around with slapstick, and things hurt. But I grew up watching Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, and Abbott and Costello. And it was a lot of fun to do, to try out this kind of physical comedy.

Since this is Christianity Today, is it fair to ask about your own faith?

Quaid: Sure. I grew up Baptist. I'm a Christian, and I've been baptized twice: once when I was nine years old, and then about five years ago, I got re-baptized—by a friend of mine, John Meyrick, a Baptist minister—in India, in the Ganges River.

How did that come about?

Quaid: Well, I've always been a seeker, and I think everyone needs to have a spiritual life. Along with that comes spiritual growth, and my faith is what's gotten me through tough times in my life. And so, besides being Christian, I've been all around the world, and I've always been interested in other religions as well. I've read the Koran twice, and I've read the Bhagavad Gita and the Dama Pata. I've asked people in my travels what they believe in, and why, and it makes for great discussions, actually.

How would you describe where you were between the age of nine and five years ago? To use church lingo, was there a "falling away"?

Quaid: No, no, I've attended church throughout my life, as well as studied and explored other religions as well. I've been to India several times, and I discovered meditation in my life, which I still practice, and which I don't find conflicts with Christianity. In fact, Jesus himself meditated and told us to go off and be alone with our thoughts, and to know God. God is within you, and I think that's what meditation is, is to connect with God within yourself.

'Yours, Mine & Ours' is a family film and a romantic comedy all wrapped up in one

Do you attend church now?

Quaid: Yeah, I've actually been going to Brentwood Presbyterian.

How do people at church respond to some of the roles that you take? You mentioned Far from Heaven, and different churches would have different opinions on that.

Quaid: To me, as an actor, I'm out there to portray life. We're all human beings, and I'm just there to reflect what human beings do. If I got the part of Hitler, I'd just be playing Hitler, I wouldn't be Hitler.

A few of your films, like The Rookie, have had religious elements. Is that something you look for?

Quaid: No, it's not something that I look for. I think God is everywhere in our lives, and like I say, I'm there to reflect what it is to be human. That's my job—to hold a mirror up to life. That's what the theatre is all about, I think that's what movies are all about. So what we watch, when we watch movies—what it's really for, I think, in our culture, is to really see ourselves, and to understand ourselves more. Or to laugh at ourselves.

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