The Hollywood star Elaine Hendrix was only 26 years-old when she was cast as Dennis Quaid’s girlfriend Meredith Blake in the 1998 movie The Parent Trap. Despite the fact that the two actors were eighteen years apart, Hendrix said that they hit it off immediately.
“I thought we had tremendous chemistry,” Hendrix, 50, told Insider.
At the time the movie was filmed, Quaid was a “younger” 44 years-old, creating an age gap between both him and Hendrix and their respective characters.
“One of the generalized differences between men and women is that boys mature later and girls mature earlier. So I think I was sort of an older 26,” Hendrix explained.
“Clearly, [my character] Meredith Blake is not an average 26-year-old,” she added. “All of that I couldn’t relate to. But how together she was and how ambitious she was – that I could definitely relate to. I think it worked well.”
In real life, the 67 year-old Quaid has been married to doctoral student Laura Savoie for the past year, and she is 39 years younger than him. Despite this massive age gap, the two are very happy together.
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“I just love who she is as a person,” Quaid said of his wife, according to Fox News. “Her character, her intelligence, of course, her beauty. And her point of view of the world.”
Savoie added that she “has never met someone who is so in love with life.”
“It’s like nothing can bring him down,” she stated. “Just getting to do life with someone who lives that way is inspiring for me. It changes my perspective and it brings so much joy to every day.”
Two years ago, Quaid opened up to The Guardian about attacks he’s been hit with for dating someone so much younger.
“That was really a laugh,” the star said at the time. “I thought it was wonderful actually.”
“No, it really doesn’t bother us,” Quaid continued. “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.”
Quaid also said that he never set out to date someone Savoie’s age.
“I didn’t go out looking for an age gap or someone really younger than me,” he explained. “I met her at a business event and then the relationship developed.
“You have no control over who you fall in love with,” Quaid added. “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.”
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