Dennis Quaid's Southern Roots Inspire Movie Role.

12-10-2008 17:01

Dennis Quaid's Southern Roots Inspire Movie Role....

Dennis Quaid credits his upbringing in the racially-segregated southern U.S.with inspiring his role in forthcoming film The Express.The 54-year-old actor, who was raised in Texas, plays a football coach in the drama, which is based on the life of American college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

He says, "It's a very emotional story... It's set in 1959 when racial tensions were high in this country before the civil rights movement bubbled up and in the time of segregation."That's the experience I did have growing up, especially down in the South - I remember those times. I remember being a kid and (having) separate restrooms and separate drinking fountains and Ernie Davis was able to walk through some doors and break down some barriers in a quietly graceful way."