Dennis Quaid "pilot's license" 1983 Gordon Cooper "The Right Stuff"
Quaid's portrayal of the jocular Gordo was similar to the likable he-men played by John Wayne in the prime of his career. Now, that's a major accomplishment if you're a veteran star. Quaid, however, was only 29 at the time, previously having done solid work in such good but unpopular films as ''9-30-55" and "The Long Riders."
This summer, however, Quaid's star finally should rise well above the horizon.
In "Innerspace," a youthful action-comedy that opened last month, he plays a young Air Force test pilot mistakenly injected into the bloodstream of a meek grocery clerk (Martin Short). Albeit in miniature, Quaid's character is similar to Tom Cruise's "Top Gun" heartthrob.
Yet even though he was again playing a pilot as in "The Right Stuff," there was no way you could spot Quaid as the same actor in both films. The difference was between playing a man and playing a boy, and he played the man when he was younger.
"I've never had any trouble playing over or under my age," said Quaid, 33, from his Los Angeles home. "I just do a lot of research into the various characters and don't think about how I'm going to look."
An even more radical Quaid transformation occurs in "The Big Easy," a terrific cop picture and love story. Quaid gives a superior performance playing a slick, New Orleans chief of detectives out to solve a series of apparent drug-related, mob murders.
With an authentic "Nawlins" accent and laid-back Southern attitude, Quaid's character of Lt. Remy McSwain is light years away from Gordon Cooper.
"As I said, I do a lot of research. I spent a lot of time with Gordon Cooper for 'The Right Stuff.' I even earned a pilot's license before shooting that film. I learned how to fly because I believe it affects the way you move and think. With Gordo, I found that he smiled a lot, and I put that in my performance because he really is a joy-boy. He has had a great time in life. He gulps it right down.
Source: philly
