Dennis Quaid Tears Up While Remembering His Friendship With Tupac Shakur: His Death 'Really Hit Me Hard'
Dennis Quaid revealed how Tupac Shakur's early death deeply affected him.
In a recent interview, Quaid choked up while remembering his friendship with Tupac Shakur.
Quaid, who starred in 'Gang Related' (1997) alongside Tupac, appeared on the PBD podcast, Quaid revealed how he connected with Tupac while working on set, discovering their mutual love for Chinese food.
"I was kinda familiar with Tupac when we did that movie, and we both loved Chinese food. He and I would be in a trailer every day. We had Chinese food five days in a row," he recalled.
"We talked about acting, we talked about growing up, we talked about our mothers," he continued. "He had such a great heart and he was such a talented actor and he had a thirst to learn. I didn't know he was a poet really, cause that's what he was."
The 70-year-old remembered how the "California Love" rapper "told a story of how they tried to kill him before in New York — it was hysterical the way he told it but it was like, for real. Then 6 months later, you know."
"That one really hit me hard, it really did," Quaid said.
When asked why by the host, the Houston, Texas, native said Tupac "had so much to give the world. He really did. He was such a uniter of people, he really was. You could not put him in a hole or a box."
"He was just a human being, he was a kid. He was a vulnerable person, he wasn't like this gangsta, he had a poet's heart and [had a] vulnerability and willingness and curiosity about other people, including me," 'The Parent Trap' actor stated. "You'd never put the two of us together eating Chinese food in a trailer, yet there we were."
Tupac died one year before the film's release. 'Gang Related' — alternatively known as 'Criminal Intent,' is an action crime thriller film written and directed by Jim Kouf. Tupac Shakur played Detective Jacob "Jake" Rodriguez while Quiad played William McCall / Joe Doe.
The movie, which was filmed for one month, wrapped filming just two weeks before Tupac's death. It marked his final film appearance.
In a previous interview, Kouf called Tupac Shakur "talented."
"He was a talented guy and knew what he was doing on set," he said. "I heard a lot of nightmare stories about him going on but I never had any problems with him"
Tupac was gunned down in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He succumbed to internal bleeding on September 13.
He was 25.
