Look at Dennis Quaid paying respects to a country music icon.
It’s no secret that Quaid has a long and successful career as an actor, but it appears that the man has been venturing out and trying new things, like playing music (he recently played at the Grand Ole Opry), even starring in music videos for Midland.
And even more recently, he’s dipping his toes into film, as he revealed his new production company Bonniedale with his wife Laura, and buddy Ben Howard.
Bonniedale’s first movie will be a biopic celebrating the life of Charley Pride.
Titled “American Pride,” the film will have a script written by Dianne Houston, who’s most notable for her work with Empire, Surviving Compton, and more.
Craig Brewer, who directed Hustle & Flow, Dolemite, and Coming 2 America, will be directing.
Bonniedale will produce along with Brewer and Third Coast Content.
In the movie, Quaid will portray Pride’s best friend “Cowboy” Jack Clement, as Clement and Pride wrote and recorded several songs together. There’s still no news on who will play Pride in the movie.
According to Deadline, Quaid called Pride the Jackie Robinson of country music
“Charley Pride was the Jackie Robinson of country music.
He became a star at a time when that didn’t seem possible. It is a very interesting story of a man getting his dreams, the relationship that he and his wife over 50 years, and how difficult it was for Pride to be regarded by people of his own color who gravitated to other forms of music, much less (country music) fans in the south who were resistant to welcoming a Black singer into the fold.
In fact, when RCA first signed him to a deal and released his early albums, they did not put his photo on the album cover.”
Quaid even noted that early in Pride’s career, tons of people didn’t know he was African American until they saw him on stage:
“He would say, ‘I guess you’re wondering why I have a permanent tan?’ He had this way of disarming people. He had a huge personality.
It comes down to a story of how color doesn’t really matter; it’s about reaching people, which makes his story relevant to today.”
This movie idea has been in the works for some time now, as Quaid met with Pride several times to discuss it before he passed away last year due to COVID-19.